Former High Outdoors Editor Launches Public Lands Media Watchdog – Journey Journal

Congratulations are so as.

Thanks. Yeah, I don’t know if it’s congratulations fairly but, however at the very least I acquired it out into the world.

Nicely, that’s type of the massive deal. Then you definitely’re dedicated. I keep in mind after I went to Out of doors Retailer the primary day and informed individuals I used to be going to do AJ in print. On the finish of the day, I assumed, “Oh, my god, what did I simply do?”

That’s precisely what I used to be saying to my spouse yesterday, as a result of I preserve saying, if this doesn’t work out, you understand, I can do this, however now that I’ve began elevating cash, individuals are really giving me {dollars}, I can’t consider it. I’m caught now.

Yeah, you’re fairly properly in it. So, inform me what RE:PUBLIC is.

RE:PUBLIC is an impartial, nonprofit newsroom devoted to solely protecting public lands points. That’s our sole focus. We gained’t be writing about anything.

Why do you assume it’s essential and why now?

Nicely, we’ve got 630 million acres of public lands which were such a wealthy a part of our historical past and are hopefully going to be a part of our future. There are all types of administration implications that should be mentioned and debated going ahead. Proper now could be a essential time as a result of the threats are unprecedented, however even in an administration the place the conservation motion isn’t enjoying as a lot protection, there are many different points to debate in the case of these lands. And you then mix that with the truth that we’ve seen large contraction throughout media within the final twenty years.

One of many statistics I cite is there’s 75 p.c fewer journalists working in America immediately than there have been twenty years in the past. And so the media is overwhelmed, and particularly proper now, the problems occurring with public lands are just like the 18th most essential subject for the nationwide media to cowl. They’re simply overwhelmed by every thing that’s on the market. So, my idea is we simply want extra journalists protecting this house specifically.

It’s actually essential to me. It’s actually essential to the outside business that I’ve been a part of for 25 years. And whereas there are undoubtedly pockets of nice protection of this, you understand, Excessive Nation Information does nice work, there’s a Substack known as Public Area. They’re doing glorious work, however I’d argue with anyone till I’m blue within the face that we don’t have sufficient journalists protecting this essential subject, and in order that’s what we’re making an attempt to face up.

Do any of the key shops have a public lands desk and even devoted reporter?

Not that I’m conscious of, and I did a whole lot of analysis after I was going into this. What’s encouraging is the key shops all have a local weather desk, and I believe the US media is very well stocked now with these shops and journalists protecting local weather change—correctly. That’s the largest concern of our time, for my part.

However there isn’t any devoted public land desk that I’m conscious of. I believe Excessive Nation Information is contemplating standing one up themselves, however I’m not conscious of any others, and that’s why I noticed an important area of interest right here.

How lengthy have you ever been engaged on the thought? The place did it come from?

Nicely, after I left Outdoors [in February 2025], I took a month to decompress as a result of there had been a whole lot of years of grinding. And the query I used to be actually asking myself was, is there nonetheless a spot for me in media and journalism? I really feel prefer it’s been twenty years with the universe telling me that this isn’t a snug or safe job alternative.

And I’ve been ignoring it for a very long time, in order that was the very first thing for me. After which I had labored at Texas Month-to-month underneath a man named Evan Smith, who’s type of my mentor. He based the Texas Tribune, which is a nonprofit mannequin, and so I’d all the time been curious in regards to the mannequin, and I believe round March, this concept began gestating of, you understand, perhaps I may begin a nonprofit and get out of the industrial media curler coaster.

And I began doing analysis and acquired increasingly fascinated by the house and the mannequin and noticed that there have been fairly a couple of entities which can be nationwide in scope, however simply single-topic oriented. And that’s when it hit me that public lands had been a problem that I cared deeply about. And I additionally know from my a few years at Outdoors that a few of our protection of public lands points, particularly through the first Trump administration, had been extremely fashionable tales. And so I do know there’s an viewers for it.

So when this began, actually April 1st, I stated, “I’m gonna give myself the month of April to give you a marketing strategy.” And if by the top of April, I really feel like there’s one thing there, I’m gonna go for it. And in order that’s the way it occurred. That’s actually accelerated.

I understand how you spent your summer time.

Generally I’ve amazed myself at what I’ve completed at this level. However yeah, I undoubtedly want to boost some extra money so I can get some extra assist.

Inform me about that. It’s a nonprofit. Nonprofits spend a lot vitality simply fundraising. The place do you count on the cash to come back from? What are the alternatives for funding nonprofit newsrooms?

In order a nonprofit—and simply to again up and to not get an excessive amount of within the weeds—once you’re a nonprofit, you file for nonprofit standing on the federal stage, for 501(c)(3) standing. And I used to be informed very early on that I can count on that to take at the very least a 12 months and perhaps extra underneath this administration.

So the workaround for that’s to get a fiscal sponsor. And a fiscal sponsor is an present 501(c)(3) that may take tax-deductible {dollars} and that’s kind of a pass-through to your group. So I’m fiscally sponsored by an entity known as the Institute for Nonprofit Information, they usually have 500 member organizations now, so it offers you a way of how a lot the house is exploding. A part of the principles of the fiscal sponsorship and being a member of INN is that you just disclose the place you’re getting your cash.

Screengrab from RE:PUBLIC’s web site house web page.

Do you will have any expectations that manufacturers within the outside business will contribute?

I do. I’ve made a acutely aware option to get onto a stable basis earlier than I am going to manufacturers, as a result of even with model assist within the nonprofit base, there’s a transactional high quality to it. And having been in industrial media for thus lengthy, I wish to ensure that I’m on agency footing earlier than I am going after these {dollars} in order that we stay as impartial a information group as attainable.

The place we’re headed is that I gained’t be the editor in chief of this group. I might be hiring my counterpart, and I’ll be constructing the enterprise. And that’s essential to me as a result of a lot of my job might be elevating cash. Particularly once you get to the household foundations or the bigger foundations, all of them have a pet trigger, and a few of them would possibly say, “Chris, how are you going to cowl this, you understand, concern X?” And I want to have the ability to say, “Nicely, that’s not finally my determination. That’s the editorial workforce facet.”

So it’s a bit bit like a publisher-editor relationship. And in order that’s how I wish to set it up for the long run, as a result of I believe that’s actually essential for our independence. It’s additionally going to make these conversations a bit simpler.

How do Individuals really feel about public lands?

There’s fairly a couple of surveys achieved yearly that ballot each nationally and Western voters. And what you see is an excellent majority of voters and a bipartisan coalition that basically consider public land ought to keep in public palms and that there shouldn’t be any downsizing of, say, the monuments that we at present have.

So there’s a broad assist for conservation. Once we cowl public lands, we wish to do it from a bipartisan perspective, as a result of we expect this can be a uncommon alternative to talk to either side of the aisle on a problem individuals care about. However we additionally include two priors.

One is that we consider that local weather change is actual and that it’s human-caused. And so we’re not gonna step again in our tales and say, on the one hand, some individuals consider local weather change is human-caused and others don’t. We contemplate {that a} settled matter. After which the opposite can be that the recreation business and recreation issues, together with conservation, haven’t had an equal seat on the desk when making administration choices.

And after we speak about this bipartisan coalition, I don’t assume it’s tremendous robust but. It’s a really free coalition. However that’s been one of many points for a lot of, many many years—that the outside business is a big, $1.2 trillion business, nevertheless it’s fragmented into tons and tons of consumer teams that don’t all the time essentially converse with one voice.

And that’s what I believe is gonna be essential going ahead.

Aside from reporting in a nonpartisan approach on the problems, do you see an activist function for RE:PUBLIC? Do you see an opinion-oriented, position-oriented function? Or do you are feeling you will have a dedication to keep up as a lot objectivity as you possibly can on these points and canopy as many views as you possibly can?

Nicely, we’re not an advocacy group, so we’re not on the market making an attempt to trumpet a single concern or defend a sure set of acres. I assume the very best instance I may give is, over the summer time, when Mike Lee, Senator Mike Lee from Utah, proposed his large sell-off plan, it galvanized this outside recreation neighborhood. One in every of his rationales was that this may very well be a repair for our housing disaster. And I believe it’s the advocacy group’s function to say, “We don’t care. We wish to defend each acre that we’ve got.” And that was kind of the rallying cry, you understand, “We’ll defend each acre.”

I believe our function as a journalistic entity is extra to analyze that concept—may promoting some public lands be an answer for our housing disaster?—and to have a look at all sides of that after which come down on one or the opposite, however to not dismiss it out of hand, that’s not our function as journalists.

It does sound like a basic precept is the protection of public lands. Is {that a} honest assertion?

Sure. And protection can imply a whole lot of issues. We’re not basically against any extractive industries. However I do assume that we’ve got to stability use on these lands, and we include a perspective that these lands should be preserved for the long run, and never for short-term achieve. And so that will be our perspective.

Do you are feeling that a whole lot of what you’re protecting goes to be unfavourable, and do you ponder whether individuals are going to be attentive to it? Is that one thing you’ve considered in your protection?

I’d say I give it some thought each day, as a result of I do know from my time at Outdoors that for those who don’t give you a compelling narrative in a narrative that’s on the heart of what you’re speaking about, there’s gonna be viewers fatigue. And so, what we all the time centered on throughout my time at Outdoors and what I actually consider in is discovering these narratives. Even when it’s a unfavourable story, if there’s a compelling narrative on the heart, individuals will learn it.

And I can’t fake to let you know what this group and what our editorial technique goes to seem like 5 years from now, as a result of, like all enterprise startups, it’s going to evolve. However at our core, our first 12 months is to fund 10 to 12 feature-length investigative tales which can be compelling and can have impression. And so, I’m not gonna let you know each a type of tales is gonna be a house run, however my feeling is much less is extra on this house and to deal with huge, high-impact tales versus simply protecting the day by day drip of dangerous information popping out of this administration or the subsequent one.

I seen 27 p.c of your price range is put aside for story charges, however 4 p.c for pictures. It’s such a visible world. Do you see that ratio shifting?

Yeah, you’re most likely taking a look at my blind spot, to be sincere with you. I’ve all the time had such an admiration for photographers, and I understand how a lot at Outdoors they made our tales higher. And for some cause, as a result of I come from the phrase facet, I all the time overemphasize the phrase. I used to be questioning about that flaw in my enterprise mannequin and I’ll cop to it and say I do understand how a lot photographers can elevate a narrative and I didn’t keep on with my weapons and ensure that we put aside extra money for that.

You’re primarily based within the West. There are far bigger parcels of public land within the West. Public lands within the East have a tendency to not get as a lot protection. What are your plans for attaining stability there—for those who really feel like you have to obtain stability?

I’m wrestling with that proper now, to be fully sincere with you. One of many issues that’s changing into clear is that on the muse facet, there are tons of foundations which have a deal with the surroundings or conservation, after which there are fairly a couple of foundations now that assist journalism. However there are extra that assist native journalism than nationwide single-topic journalism. So there are some funders who’re pushing me to be extra regional and perhaps outline our viewers because the West.

And in order that’s one thing that I’m wrestling with proper now. However a part of my idea is that the majority of our media is centered on the East Coast. And I believe that there’s a lack of knowledge in regards to the significance of public lands to individuals who dwell within the West and the way we work together and are available into contact with these lands, actually every day. And so these points are all the time prime of thoughts in a approach that they simply aren’t on the East Coast. And so I believe it’s essential for this entity to be located within the West, even when there are, such as you say, there are a whole lot of public lands on the East, too. The majority of them, the place these actual points come to a head, are out west.

Thanks a lot for the time, Chris. Kudos. And better of luck.

Nicely, thanks. And I’ll put you down for $50,000.