Welcome to North Dakota Monitor. Our staff works for you.

The Peace Garden State is closing out 2023 with the addition of a new media outlet: North Dakota Monitor.

The launch is particularly important for our state, because it comes during a year that saw the closure of 12 weekly newspapers in North Dakota.

Some of the papers that closed were small — combined the 12 had readership of less than 6,000 — but each one is a major loss to its community. And every closure further stretches the resources of newspapers in neighboring towns to report on local government, school boards and other essential news.

This makes it harder for the public to make informed decisions. It can make it easier for corruption to go undetected. A lack of news can also fuel speculation, conspiracy theories and misinformation when people are not able to access the facts.

As news organizations lose reporting resources, fewer are able to send journalists to Bismarck for the legislative session. Even fewer reporting resources are dedicated to the Capitol outside of the biannual sessions. The trend is not unique to North Dakota, but nationwide.

That’s why the nonprofit States Newsroom has invested in newsrooms around the country to provide original reporting on state government. North Dakota Monitor will be the 38th outlet in the national network. 

The Monitor’s motto is “Fair, free, focused on North Dakota.” We will provide nonpartisan, fact-based reporting on state government with a focus on holding elected officials accountable and coverage of how policy decisions affect people across the state. Our work is free, with no ads or paywalls.

Our full-time staff of four, primarily based in Bismarck, will be working with additional freelancers and contributors.

We incorporated a sunflower into our logo in recognition of North Dakota’s agricultural heritage and position as the No. 1 producer of sunflowers. We also aim to shine sunlight on state government through our reporting, and the sunflower is a nod to that.

We value transparency in government, and we’ll work to promote that through our reporting. We believe in providing people the facts, so they can make informed decisions at the polls. We want to make state government easier for you to follow by keeping you informed of public meetings coming up and letting you know how you can participate. We also will have a place on our site for commentary, with a goal of publishing voices that may not always get heard.

Our news and commentary will be available for other newspapers and media outlets to reprint for free, which we hope will complement the reporting they’re doing on their local communities. 

Launching and sustaining a news outlet is hard work, but it’s rewarding work. In my 20 years as a journalist in North Dakota, I’ve been heartened many times to have strangers thank me for what I do. I’ve always answered to an editor or a publisher, but I think of myself as working for the public. Getting feedback from readers — even when it’s critical — reinforces my commitment to doing this work. The appreciation for solid reporting feels stronger to me now more than ever as newspapers have become thinner, and misinformation runs rampant. 

Our team will be following many of the subjects that are already making headlines: the impact of the recent ruling in the redistricting lawsuit, the serious sex crime allegations against former state Sen. Ray Holmberg and future discussions about transparency in lawmaker travel.

We’ll also be covering stories that might otherwise go unreported. Today, reporter Mary Steurer writes about how legislation on health care for transgender youth is affecting North Dakota families despite a “legacy clause” in the law. Deputy Editor Jeff Beach reports on an idea for addressing the school bus driver shortage. And I interviewed the retiree recently removed from the Public Employee Retirement System board about the increase in political appointees to the board that governs state employee benefits.

A frequently asked question is how we will pay the bills while doing this reporting. Our work is supported by donations, and donors to the organization can be found on the network’s website. The donors won’t have any input on what stories we cover. And even though North Dakota Monitor is part of a national network, editorial decisions are made locally by North Dakota journalists.

We work for you, and we love to hear your story ideas and suggestions of topics you think deserve news coverage. Contact us at [email protected].