Independent and local — always

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

When the Reader was founded in 2004, it was owned by three college friends who wanted to provide an alternative voice in North Idaho. When Zach Hagadone, John Reuter and Chris DeCleur owned the newspaper, their main mantra was to offer an independent, local newspaper free to the people. This paper wouldn’t write down to the audience, instead offering nuanced, long-form journalism that gave a different perspective on the local issues that we all care about.

Before the paper went out of print between 2012-’14, Zach asked me if I’d run it with him, but I was in a different place then. I didn’t have any interest. I believe, as the story goes, I laughed in his face. 

I was just a writer for the Reader then, contributing frequent diatribes and travelogues from my wayfaring days. To be stuck behind a desk doing this yeoman’s work was not how I saw my life playing out.

Zach had a few individuals interested in taking over the paper then, but he wisely decided to shutter the press instead of handing off nearly eight years of blood, sweat, ink and tears to someone who might tarnish the original mission.

So, as is the case with many small newspapers in the U.S. during the past couple of decades, the Reader went dark — quite literally, as the cover of the last edition on March 29, 2012 carried a full page of black ink. Thursday mornings no longer saw that familiar masthead on the racks around town.

Zach, John and Chris moved on to actual jobs that paid them real money. The Reader was just a memory. Or so it seemed. 

Meanwhile, I returned to my hometown of Sandpoint and fell in love. As the line goes in the film Goodwill Hunting, I had to see about a girl, so I moved into a small apartment and worked odd jobs for a few years until a crazy thought popped into my head while sunbathing on a stretch of sand on the lakeshore: What if I brought the Reader back from the dead?

Everyone I shared my idea with thought I was insane. Several told me it would end badly, that the paper would never make any money and I would go broke in the process.

Nonetheless, I continued forward with a plan. A couple of months before the relaunch, Keokee owner Chris Bessler approached me and asked if I would be interested in taking on a partner.

We met, and I realized Bessler’s intentions were to help this paper get off the ground and assist in giving it the legs it needed to stay around for good this time. 

We entered into an agreement and owned the paper together. We brought in Cameron Rasmusson as the first editor of Reader 2.0, and quietly put out the first edition in January 2015. Shortly after, Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey began interning with us and ultimately took a full-time job as a reporter after she graduated from college. We were off to the races.

Those were wild days back then. The Reader faced an uphill battle. We fought for our existence every week, fending off droves of haters who filled our inboxes and voicemail with threats and intimidation. 

I worked long hours, often going without pay. My staff was incredible all along the way, churning out the news stories, the opinion articles, the little bits and bobs that make this paper what it is. We leaned into it, and the community leaned right back. You accepted us, brought us into your weekly routine, and many of you refused to let us die. To this day, there isn’t a week that goes by when someone doesn’t send a donation or drop by the office with a present, a note or a contribution for our efforts.

It has meant the world to me how much this community has embraced the Reader’s return from the dead.

When Zach moved back to Sandpoint in 2019 and expressed interest in rejoining the paper’s staff, it felt like things were really entering a new phase. He resumed his duties as editor-in-chief starting in July 2019 and immediately augmented the quality and purpose of the Reader. He is one of the top journalists in the state and we’re damn lucky to have him.

Then, a few years later, Lyndsie announced she would be having her first child, and we said goodbye to one of our favorite people only to luck out in hiring Soncirey Mitchell to fill her shoes as a reporter.

From the start, we realized Soncirey was going to be a perfect fit. She is wise beyond her years and has added so much character, charm and wit to our weekly effort.

It was around this time when I began exploring options to restore Zach as an owner of the paper. It seemed like the logical next step after he helped create it back in 2004. When Bessler announced last year that he would be retiring soon, it became the perfect time.

After this lengthy preamble, I’m pleased to announce that Zach is again a co-owner of the Sandpoint Reader.

What’s more, because she represents the future of this paper when Zach and I become burned out husks, we offered ownership shares to Soncirey as well.

Zach and Soncirey both now own 15% of this newspaper each, and I have the remaining 70%. Bessler graciously sold his ownership shares at a reasonable rate and we completed the paperwork a couple of months ago.

After news dropped last week of Bessler selling Sandpoint Magazine, SandpointOnline, Keokee Books and the Town Crier to Hagadone Media Group, corporate owner of the Bonner County Daily Bee, several of our readers reached out to ask what that means for the Reader, since Keokee once co-owned it. 

Allow me to dispel any rumors here: The ownership transfer of Keokee’s shares occurred months ago and the Reader is entirely owned by Zach, Soncirey and me.

We have always been independently owned and operated and we always will be. 

I am thankful for Bessler’s assistance in getting the Reader off the ground and helping us grow all these years. I also wish him a happy retirement. He has certainly earned it.

(And, once and for all: Just because Zach’s last name is “Hagadone” doesn’t mean he or we have anything whatsoever to do with Hagadone Media Group or any of its products, past or present.)

All this is to say that nothing will change for us at the Reader. We are in the best place we’ve ever been, and we look forward to many more years of providing you with a free glimpse of the small world we live in, each and every Thursday morning. While it’s always a struggle keeping a newspaper alive in this digital world, we come to work each day with purpose and drive, and a morbid desire to prove all the haters wrong.

I’m thankful to have two new business partners in Zach and Soncirey who share my ethos about journalism and running a newspaper in a dynamic place like Sandpoint.

We really couldn’t do this without you, our dear readers. You contribute excellent slice-of-life articles, intriguing letters to the editor, entertaining photographs, impactful art and insightful commentary. You are the reason for this paper’s existence. Don’t ever forget that.

We are thankful to our many columnists, who contribute their words to the Reader free of charge. You help breathe life into this rag, and I’m so grateful to have your columns in our pages.

We are also indebted to our many advertisers over the years who have helped keep the lights on around here. If you really want to know how to help our newspaper, look at those who advertise on our pages and consider giving them your business. 

For now, Zach, Soncirey and I will continue our work as we have before, now as co-owners. They don’t work for me; we all work for each other, hopefully for many more years to come.

Thanks for reading.