Registration Open

Pick up your festival badge, purchase passes or tickets, and buy festival merchandise.

4:00 p.m.

UC Grand Foyer

Opening Keynote

Timothy Egan, Author A Fever in the Heartland

In conversation with John S. Adams, Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief of Montana Free Press,

Description

Join us for this special opening event, a deep-dive conversation with author Timothy Egan on the role of history, journalism, and extremism in American political and civic life.

7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

UC Ballroom

Opening Night Reception

Join fellow festival attendees for conversation and hors d’oeuvres immediately following the opening keynote.

8:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

UC Ballroom

Registration Open

Pick up your festival badge, purchase passes or tickets, and buy festival merchandise.

8:00 a.m.

UC Grand Foyer

Spotlight Session 1: The Weight of Nature

Clayton Page Aldern, Senior Data Reporter at Grist, and Author of The Weight of Nature
Darby Minow Smith, Writer and Cattle Rancher, Lazy T Ranch

Description

A warmer climate won’t just change Montana landscapes; it will change Montanans themselves. Hotter temperatures affect everything from high school test scores to collective memory to violence, argues The Weight of Nature, a provocative new book from environmental journalist and neuroscientist Clayton Aldern. Although that might sound a tad depressing, by understanding the problem, Montanans can prepare for and soften these impacts. In this onstage conversation, Aldern joins local writer Darby Minow Smith to discuss what a hotter Montana means for the people who make up the Last Best Place.

9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

UC Ballroom

Where Montana Medicaid Goes from Here

John Goodnow, CEO, Benefis Health System
Steve Fitzpatrick, Montana State Senator
SJ Howell, Montana State Representative
Cindy Stergar, CEO, Montana Primary Care Association

Moderator: Mara Silvers, Reporter, Montana Free Press

Description

It’s been almost ten years since Montana significantly expanded its Medicaid program through Medicaid Expansion, a move that helped slash the uninsured population and improve health outcomes for thousands of adults with chronic and urgent health issues. But that program is set to expire in 2025 unless it’s renewed by state lawmakers and the sitting governor. And, beyond the adults impacted by the 2015 expansion, Medicaid beneficiaries more broadly have been rocked by last year’s mass redetermination process — the first time people’s eligibility has been reviewed since the pandemic. With this recent history and the next legislative session looming, where does Montana Medicaid go from here?

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Breakout Session 1

UC Ballroom

Does Montana’s Education Funding Formula Need an Overhaul?

David Bedey, Montana State Representative, and Chair, Education Interim Budget Committee
Becky Croghan, Educator, Saddle Peak Elementary, and President, Belgrade Education Association
Arlene Walker-Andrews, Board Trustee, Missoula County Public Schools, and former Associate Provost, University of Montana
Rob Watson, Executive Director, School Administrators of Montana, and former superintendent, Missoula County Public Schools

Moderator: Alex Sakariassen, Reporter, Montana Free Press

Description

Montana’s public schools are hurting financially. Districts are weathering huge budget deficits, federal COVID-19 relief funds are drying up and teachers still don’t get paid enough to cover the rising cost of living in the state. That’s the message local school officials and state education advocates have been broadcasting this year, and they’re urging policymakers in Helena to act swiftly. What changes are in the wings to address the crisis, and how will next year’s legislative session and post-session review of Montana’s education funding formula play out?

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Breakout Session 2

UC Theater

Indigenizing Food Systems

Emily Stifler Wolfe, Facilitator and Coach, and Chair, Wolfe Consulting
Mariah Gladstone, Founder, Indigikitchen

Description

Creating more equitable and resilient food systems is one of our biggest collective levers for promoting agricultural, planetary, and human health. Emily Stifler Wolfe, the host of the new food podcast “Food, Montana,” and Mariah Gladstone, founder of Indigikitchen, an online cooking show dedicated to re-indigenizing our diets using digital media, join forces to discuss food system solutions for Montana that prioritize healthier ecosystems, identities, and families.

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Breakout Session 3

UC 330-333

Attendee Luncheon

Lunch provided to all pass holders. Lunch tickets available to non pass holders for purchase.

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

UC Meeting Room Foyer

Spotlight Session 2: The Future of News in the Digital Age of Journalism

John S. Adams, Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief, Montana Free Press
Maritsa Georgiou, News Anchor, Scripps News
Kolby KickingWoman, Bureau Chief, ICT
Matthew Mantica, Director, Growth Investments, American Journalism Project
Melody Martinsen, Editor and Co-Owner, Choteau Acantha

Moderator: Augusta McDonnell, Morning Anchor, KTVQ

Description

Journalism is at a pivotal crossroads, with rapid digital advancements and evolving societal needs reshaping the industry. This panel brings together voices from across the news media spectrum—from established rural weeklies to national broadcast powerhouses and innovative nonprofit newsrooms. Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on the future of news and how these diverse perspectives are navigating the changing tides.

1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

UC Ballroom

Can Montana Build its Way Out of a Housing Crisis?

Andrea Davis, Mayor of Missoula, former Executive Director, Homeword
Jacob Kuntz, Executive Director, Helena Area Habitat for Humanity, and Montana Governor Greg Gianforte’s Housing Task Force member
Forrest Mandeville, Montana State Senator, and sponsor of SB 382, The Montana Land Use Planning Act

Moderator: Eric Dietrich, Deputy Editor, Montana Free Press

Description

Housing affordability is widely seen as Montana’s single most painful cost of living concern, with drastic increases to rents and home purchase prices putting the squeeze on many lower- and middle-income Montanans in recent years. Many state and local leaders have responded by adopting public subsidies and zoning reform and policies aimed at making it easier to build additional housing in the hope that adding additional supply will slow or reverse rising prices. Questions abound about that approach — we’ll explore many of them here.

3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Breakout Session 4

UC Ballroom

Loving Montana to Death

Racene Friede, CEO, Western Montana’s Glacier Country
Hillary Rosner, Assistant Director, Center for Environmental Journalism
Michelle Uberuaga, Senior Program Manager for Yellowstone, National Parks Conservation Association

Moderator: Joseph T. O’Connor, Managing Editor, Mountain Journal

Description

Montana is the fourth largest state in the U.S. and among the least populated. Yet, with visitation to Yellowstone and Glacier national parks peaking a combined 7 million visitors annually and the state seeing unprecedented growth, the Treasure State, along with its wildlife and wild landscapes, is facing an historic challenge: us.

3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Breakout Session 5

UC Theater

Workshop: Co-Lab for Civic Imagination

Description

Just weeks after this conference, State of Mind, a nine-month statewide theater and public dialogue tour aimed at tackling Montana’s mental health crisis, will launch with stops in Missoula, Conrad, Great Falls and Glasgow. At each site, in addition to a performance, there will be workshops with youth, teachers and health workers, as well as public conversations aimed at exploring what care means in our diverse communities. Join Project Director Michael Rohd and artists from State of Mind to see pieces of the show, hear about its network building across the state, and experience some of the participatory activities at the heart of its mission to host dialogue and exercise the muscles that make healthy democracy possible.

3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Breakout Session 6

UC 330-333

Headline Keynote: The Nationalization of Local Politics

Jim Messina, CEO, The Messina Group
Matt Rhoades, Co-CEO, CGCN Group

Moderator: Maritsa Georgiou, Anchor, Scripps News

Special introduction from Ambassador Max Baucus

This event is free admission and open to the public – made possible by support from the Max Baucus Institute’s Stockman Bank Speaker Series

Description

In an ever-more polarized media landscape, national politics have increasingly permeated local elections, with third rail issues overshadowing more urgent policy needs at the state and local level. Both veterans in national campaign strategy, Jim Messina and Matt Rhoades have worked on the front lines alongside a massive shift in campaign rhetoric and political narratives. Join these former political rivals for a provocative conversation on the nationalization of local politics, changing tides in campaign politics, and the evolving relationship between elections, news, and journalism.

6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

UC Ballroom

Registration Open

Pick up your festival badge, purchase passes or tickets, and buy festival merchandise.

8:30 a.m.

UC Grand Foyer

“The Session” Live Podcast

Description

Grab a front row seat in a live recording of “The Session” podcast from Montana Free Press, Montana Public Radio, and Yellowstone Public Radio. This special edition looks ahead to the campaign rhetoric, struggles for political power and prospects of the 2024 election and the 69th meeting of the Montana Legislature in 2025.

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

UC Theater

Closing Keynote Panel: FactGPT – AI for the Human-Powered Newsroom

Natalia Antelava, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Coda Story
Neil Chase, CEO, CalMatters
Moderator: Lee Banville, Director, University of Montana School of Journalism

Description

The promise and peril of AI in journalism has been a hot debate, as new technologies build groundbreaking efficiencies, opening bandwidth for reporters, while also changing the way audiences discover, consume, and engage with news and stories. Join us for this compelling closing keynote as veteran, international journalists discuss how to harness the power of AI for 21st century journalism that benefits people over profits.

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

UC Ballroom