A few months before I launched Last Best News, I talked to David Crisp about a possible partnership. I was mostly joking, but only because I had no idea whether the online newspaper I was hoping to start could support one person, let alone two. I thought the possibility was worth mentioning, though, because I knew that if I ever reached the point of being able to expand, there was no one I’d rather work with. I had known David as an editor and reporter at the Billings Gazette in the mid-1990s, and he was so good at both jobs that it was a little daunting. (more…) Continue Reading →
Last Best News
Recent Posts
A look back at the best of Last Best News, 2015
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In honor of the new year, let me offer up what I consider the best of the Last Best News stories of 2015. Early in the new year, in a Prairie Lights column, I wrote about a deeply religious overseas terrorist organization. The conclusions I drew from that slice of history would resonate throughout the coming year. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Diversions, Alexis Bonogofky, Brian D'Ambrosio, David Crisp, Doug Oltrogge, Jody Tenicin Smith, John Warner, Last Best News
Last Best News celebrates first birthday
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Today is the first birthday of Last Best News, launched on Feb. 1, 2014. I’d like to shoot off fireworks from the Rims, buy everyone in Eastern Montana a drink or maybe have one of those airplanes pulling a banner fly across the state for a few days, but I’ve got a bunch of stories to write, so probably not. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Prairie Lights, Courtney Lowery Cowgill, Last Best News, Montana Center for Investigative Reporting, mt.vigilante, Ruffin Prevost, Yellowstone Gate
Gazette boycott, however appealing, the wrong move
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A local businessman is organizing a campaign to get downtown businesses to drop all advertising with the Billings Gazette. The spark was a December column by Gazette Editor Darrell Ehrlick, who described some of the least savory aspects of downtown Billings. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: From the Outpost, Billings Gazette, Billings Outpost, Darrell Ehrlick, David Crisp, Ed Kemmick, Last Best News, Pub Station
Last Best News gets ink in industry mag
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Things tend to get a little busy around Last Best News. I had completely forgotten that I was interviewed a month or two ago by a reporter for Editor & Publisher. This morning I heard from an old colleague who saw the story that E&P wrote about Last Best News, which you can find right here. (Link restored.)
Editor & Publisher describes itself on its website as “the authoritative journal covering all aspects of the newspaper industry, including business, newsroom, advertising, circulation, marketing, technology, online and syndicates.” So I am honored to capture their fleeting attention. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Last Best Blog, Editor & Publisher, Last Best News
Last Best’s 1st quarter report — so far, so good
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On the slowest day in the short life of Last Best News, just 131 people visited the site. That was on Saturday, Feb. 15, two weeks after the site launched on Feb. 1. That depressing day was followed by a few more slow Saturdays, which convinced me that people simply don’t spend much time on the Internet on that day of the week. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Prairie Lights, Billings Outpost, David Crisp, John Warner, Last Best News, Matthew Struck, Peter Tolton, Stan Parker
Leader rolls out the red carpet for visiting scribe
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When I was interviewing Milt Gunderson at the Daniels County Leader in Scobey last week, for a story about his amazingly long tenure at the paper, publisher Burl Bowler told me they were going to write a story about me writing a story about Milt.
And they did, and it went out to the Leader’s 1,500 subscribers yesterday. They were kind enough to mail me a copy, too, and it arrived today, in all its yellow glory. The Leader is old-school and doesn’t use bylines, but the story was written by Mike Stebleton, who mostly covers sports. You can access the Leader’s e-edition here. It looks good, but online the newsprint is white and the photos are in color, so you lose something of its distinct flavor. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Last Best Blog, Burl Bowler, Daniels County Leader, Last Best News, Mike Stebleton, Milt Gunderson
From the Outpost: Cutting ties in a changing media world
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Editor’s note: David Crisp occasionally writes an Editor’s Notebook column for his weekly newspaper, the Billings Outpost. We are honored to be able to share his work with our readers. We are also a little embarrassed to be mentioned in this, his first contribution. In Washington, Ezra Klein cuts ties with the Washington Post to launch his own online news venture, Project X. In Montana, Ed Kemmick cuts ties with the Billings Gazette to launch his own online news venture, Last Best News. (more…) Continue Reading →