My role as MTFP’s editor gives me a very particular view of our newsroom and the work our reporters produce. Because while I rarely write more than a story summary myself, I do get to help direct our articles’ journeys all the way from hunch to headline. And a lot happens along that path. We strategize our sourcing, double-check our data, re-confirm our facts and workshop our word choice to get our stories as close to impeccable as possible. Sometimes that journey is launched and finished inside of two hours at a single reporter’s desk. Other times it takes a month and the combined smarts of the whole newsroom. 

So my view, from well behind the byline, has a tendency to privilege these processes over any particular finished product. The processes — the methodical and measured ways in which we assemble the news you see on our homepage and in your inbox — are how we help ensure that Montana Free Press will continue to be accurate, thorough, reliable and relatable to Montanans for years to come, no matter who might be sitting in the editor’s chair, or which reporter is covering whatever beat in 2023. That often invisible work is a big part of how we’re building an institution that’s designed to last. 

So when I look back at some of my favorite MTFP stories of the past year, I can’t help but see the processes and protocols that went into producing them. All the little procedural boxes checked and milestones marked on the road to publication. But if we’re doing our jobs well, all you’ll see are stories that reward the time you spend reading them. 

Here are just a few that, for a variety of reasons, most deeply rewarded mine.

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