Missoula Current

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Forged letter used to attack refugee resettlement

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Here’s an ugly twist in the immigration debate in Missoula, where there have been big rallies for and against welcoming refugees. Missoula Current is reporting that someone forged a letter, purporting to be from the three members of the Missoula County Commission, to the U.S. Department of State and the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. The three commissioners continue to strongly support the International Rescue Committee and to support plans to reopen a refugee resettlement office in Missoula, but in the forged letter they tell the bureau: “After further review, we don’t feel (M)iddle (E)astern cultures are compatible with our community values.”

The letter had a Great Falls postmark, which was a pretty good indication something was amiss, but as one commissioner said, news of the letter spread “some serious concern … throughout the community.” What a low move in an already unsettling situation, and what a revealing turn of phrase it was to frame the commission’s supposed opposition in terms of cultural bigotry. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, International Rescue Committee, Missoula County Commission, Missoula Current

Story spills the beans on former Missoulian editor

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Rock

The Missoula Independent is reporting some details about the Missoulian editor who resigned earlier this week, after being suspended for bringing a gun to work. From the sounds of it, Matt Bunk’s brief tenure at the newspaper was such a disaster that his showing up in the newsroom packing heat gave the powers that be an opportunity to get rid of him with little fear of being sued again. Here’s the key paragraph: “Current staffers and former reporters who spoke with the Indy this week describe a newsroom that was nearing revolt against an editor who they say bullied reporters and routinely threatened their jobs during disagreements. Some say they expected further resignations, or even a walkout, had Bunk been permitted to return.” Much of the blame lies with Missoulian Publisher Mark Heintzelman, who hired Bunk seven months ago after demoting longtime editor Sherry Devlin, who later resigned and sued the newspaper for wrongful discharge. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Darrell Ehrlick, Mark Heintzelman, Martin Kidston, Matt Bunk, Missoula Current, Missoula Independent, Missoulian

Missoulian editor Bunk reportedly resigns

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Bunk

The Missoula Current is reporting that Matt Bunk, the Missoulian editor suspended two weeks ago after bringing a concealed weapon to work in violation of company policy, has resigned. Martin Kidston, the founder of the Current, said his sources were newspaper employees and that no other information was available Monday night. As Kidston also reported, Bunk was named editor of the Missoulian only last August by publisher Mark Heintzelman. And Heintzelman had been on the job not quite a year himself when he hired Bunk away from a twice-weekly paper in Libby. Bunk was hired after former Missoulian editor Sherry Devlin was demoted, and she later filed a lawsuit in District Court, saying she had been unjustly demoted and replaced by a less-qualified male. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Mark Heintzelman, Martin Kidston, Matt Bunk, Missoula Current, Missoulian, Sherry Devlin

Pistol-packing editor says gun was an antique

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M.B.

Following up on a story broken by the Missoula Current, the Missoula Independent has new details on the suspension of Missoulian editor Matt Bunk, who violated company policy by bringing a gun to work. Indy reporter Derek Brouwer (formerly a reporter for the Billings Gazette) writes: “In a personal Facebook post he shared Monday with the Indy, Bunk says the incident involved an antique handgun his girlfriend recently gave him as an engagement gift. The editor says he has a concealed carry permit and often wears a gun, but forgot to remove it from his hip before entering the office one day. ‘Someone pointed it out, and I put it back in my car immediately,’ he wrote.” The Missoulian, like the Gazette, is owned by Lee Enterprises, and Brouwer points out that the “antique firearm” excuse wasn’t good enough for another editor at a Lee newspaper. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Last Best Blog, Derek Brouwer, Lee Enterprises, Martin Kidston, Matt Bunk, Missoula Current, Missoula Independent, Missoulian

Prairie Lights: 3 cheers for state’s growing online news

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MFP

Talking to Martin Kidston last week, I almost felt as though I was interviewing myself again. The former Missoulian reporter quit his job at the end of December and launched an online newspaper, Missoula Current, in early January. “I just decided I didn’t want to work for a corporate paper,” he said. “It’s a broken template, really.” (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Prairie Lights, John Adams, Martin Kidston, Matthew Frank, Missoula Current, Mountain West News, O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West, School of Journalism