The MT Lowdown is a weekly digest that showcases a more personal side of Montana Free Press’ high-quality reporting while keeping you up to speed on the biggest news impacting Montanans. Want to see the MT Lowdown in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here.
About a decade ago, I launched Montana Free Press out of the back of my truck with the straightforward goal of providing Montanans with free and easy access to in-depth reporting on the issues shaping our state. As a one-person operation for the first two years, my expectations were modest, but my hopes were high.
I believed then, as I do now, that despite outdated business models at legacy outlets, Montanans value access to deeply reported, fact-based news and information. Our growth over the past decade has borne that out.
Since its founding, MTFP has become Montana’s leading statewide digital-first newsroom, recognized nationally for the quality of our reporting and our innovative and durable business model. In the last decade, we’ve fought legal battles on behalf of the public’s right to know, produced reporting that’s been cited in the Legislature and in courtrooms, and built an experienced news team of more than 15 full-time reporters and editors trusted by readers across Montana.
And now we’re aiming higher.
Heather Tal Murphy has joined MTFP as editor-in-chief and director of newsroom strategy. In this new role, she will help us deliver sharper stories, develop smarter editorial products and reach more readers, listeners and viewers. She’ll also work closely with our newly acquired publication Mountain Journal to grow its coverage of wildlife and land in the West.
She brings two decades of reporting, editing and leadership experience at some of the country’s most respected news organizations, including The New York Times, NPR, The Washington Post and Slate.
As a reporter, Heather has won awards for her health coverage and produced widely cited stories on the ethics of applying emerging DNA technologies to criminal investigations and medicine. As an editor and strategist, she has pioneered new storytelling formats and helped longstanding institutions branch out in new directions.
She’s also an entrepreneur who understands the importance of experimentation and adaptation when building for the future.
What drew her to Montana Free Press is what drives us: a commitment to rigorous, ethical journalism that serves audiences first.
What made her such an outstanding candidate (we considered many highly experienced and talented candidates from Montana and beyond over the past nine months) is her vision for the future of local news and her passion for building a culture of newsroom innovation and excellence.
Heather’s hiring marks the beginning of a new era for MTFP. She will hone MTFP’s editorial focus, deepen our reporting and enable me to lead the organization’s broader vision for growth and sustainability.
In anticipation of this expansion, longtime MTFP editor Brad Tyer took on a new role as projects editor earlier this year, overseeing ambitious, high-impact journalism and major editorial initiatives, including the forthcoming publication of the second edition of “Big Sky Politics,” an essential primer on modern Montana politics that’s due out early next year.
Holly Michels continues to lead our statewide coverage and Nick Ehli directs MTFP’s local reporting initiative. Together, these shifts position MTFP for sustained growth while upholding the editorial excellence you expect from us.
We know the challenges facing newsrooms are real. Traditional outlets are shrinking, social media is replacing the front page for many people, and AI — for better or for worse — is changing how people find and process information. The news industry may be struggling, but our goal is clear: we aim to keep people connected through journalism that builds trust, fosters understanding and reaches audiences where they are.
The timing of Heather’s arrival is ideal. Free Press Fest is less than two weeks away. We’re eager to celebrate journalism’s role in Montana as we unpack some of the state’s toughest questions through a range of viewpoints. Heather will be with us at Montana State University, the venue for this year’s event, taking part in those conversations and listening closely to what matters to you.
Our strategy for the coming years focuses on three pillars: editorial excellence, community growth and long-term sustainability. We’re building a newsroom that sets the bar for ethical and fearless reporting, while developing new ways to engage readers across platforms and generations. Our vision is simple: Montana Free Press will be an indispensable source of news and context, insight and great storytelling about this region for years to come.
We’re thrilled to have Heather at the helm. Her sharp editorial judgment, builder’s mindset and a coach’s eye for talent will bring bolder coverage, wider reach and a newsroom built to last.
PS — Heather wants to hear about the kinds of stories you’d like to see in Montana Free Press in the next year. Email her your ideas at [email protected].
— John Adams, Executive Director
By The Numbers 🔢
Approximate amount of federal money likely to be spent on expanding Montana broadband internet access this decade, equivalent to $795 per Montana resident.
The sum includes $308 million in new spending state officials are proposing through the federal Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, as well as $300 million of COVID-19 pandemic relief money Gov. Greg Gianforte put toward broadband grants in 2022 and other federal spending tracked by state officials dating back to 2020.
Montana Department of Administration Director Misty Ann Giles, who has overseen the Gianforte administration’s broadband efforts, said at a public meeting last week that the combined spending would bring “service to every citizen in the state.”
READ MORE: Gianforte administration says $308 million broadband internet plan will bring ‘service to every citizen’.
— Eric Dietrich
Following the Law ⚖️
In a bid to make more federal coal available to mine, the U.S. House of Representatives this week voted to repeal changes to a land management plan that the Bureau of Land Management’s Miles City Field Office adopted under the Biden administration.
Proponents of the move, which was designed to quickly undo a moratorium on new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, emphasized its alignment with President Donald Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” objective. Opponents countered that using congressional review to unwind a resource plan is an unprecedented and ill-advised move.
Troy Downing, who represents Montana’s eastern district in the House, sponsored the resolution. In a press release issued after the House vote, Downing focused his remarks on implications for energy development in the Powder River Basin, which holds the largest coal reserves in the country.
“I’m proud to be leading the charge in the House to reverse the Miles City Field Office [Resource Management Plan Amendment] to improve access to the affordable, reliable energy that brings the American dream that much closer to hand for countless families in Montana and across the country,” he said in the press release.
Earthjustice attorney Shiloh Hernandez, who has represented environmental and climate groups in litigation to stop coal development, countered in an email to MTFP that the resolution has more to do with making industry groups happy than bringing energy prices down for Montanans.
“It is absurd that bought-and-paid-for politicians in Washington, D.C., can override the will of Montana communities who made their voices heard on the devastating impacts of Powder River Basin coal to our lands, our waters and our climate,” Hernandez said in the Sept. 3 statement. “If passed by the Senate, this CRA resolution would reverse years of scientific review and public engagement to suit political whims driven by special interests. Once again, our elected officials have sidestepped the people who elected them to do the bidding of fossil fuel executives.”
National Wildlife Federation Executive Director Frank Szollosi added that the Montanans who recreate on the 2.75 million acres the plan encompasses also have cause for concern.
“It’s not just wildlife habitat and hunting and fishing access at risk here,” Szollosi said in an emailed statement. “At a time when Montana’s public lands are facing numerous threats, land managers need flexibility and tools to respond, not more interference from Washington.”
The measure, which was debated by congressional representatives the same day that the Republican-held House voted to overturn similar resource management plans in Alaska and North Dakota, will now go off to the Senate, where it’s expected to receive a warm reception by its GOP majority, including Montana Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy.
In the meantime the executive branch is also working to overturn the Powder River Basin coal-leasing moratorium through a slower, more involved rulemaking process.
— Amanda Eggert
Viewshed 🌄
The Owl Bar owner David Gwerder’s wife, Kristie, in a shawl, and their daughter, Melissa Beaver, at right in a white shirt, hug other community members after Michael Paul Brown’s arraignment hearing on Sept. 3 in Anaconda. Brown is charged with four counts of deliberate homicide, as well as arson, theft and evading law enforcement in connection with the deadly Aug. 1 shooting at The Owl Bar.
— Lauren Miller
Highlights ☀️
In other news this week —
- A 165-bed shelter closed in Missoula, on the brink of fall and colder weather.
- The state health department’s highest-ranking official focused on American Indian health is resigning from her position.
- Why is Helena asking voters for $283 million to build two new schools and update another?
- The vice president of Montana’s utility regulator wants its president gone.
On Our Radar 
This week MTFP reporters and editors are welcoming our new boss to the state by sharing the books we’d recommend to teach her — or any other Montana newcomer — how to be a Montanan. Send your own recommendations to [email protected].
Amanda — I’m going to go with a vegetables-then-dessert approach here and lead with a nerdy (but also very interesting!) book on Montana’s Constitution. That would be the 2020 edition of the University of Montana’s Public Land & Resources Law Review called “To Make a Better Place: For this and Future Generations.” It includes overviews of the natural resource battles of old and firsthand accounts of the everyday Montanans who rewrote the state’s constitution 53 years ago, enshrining unique environmental protections. Now for the dessert: “Indian Creek Chronicles: A Winter in the Bitterroot Wilderness” is a memoir by a Montana writer that I’ve gifted to others perhaps more than any other book.
Holly — For history: “The Immortal Irishman” by Timothy Eagan. For fun: “No Bar Too Far” by Rich Higgins. For all the political and journalism background you need: “Copper Chorus” by my favorite former professor, Dennis Swibold. Just trust me on “The Ploughmen” by Kim Zupan. Ack, and one more: “Badluck Way,” by Bryce Andrews.
Matt — One of my all-time favorites is Michael Punke’s “Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917.” The book gives a well-sourced account of Butte’s mining industry, the Copper Kings and the region’s labor legacy alongside the terrible events of 1917. The accounts of Manus Duggan bring me to a tearful mess.
Katie — For a break from nonfiction, Victor LaValle’s novel “Lone Women” blends Montana’s history of women homesteaders with a touch of horror, making it perfect as we get close to Halloween. The author also offers recommended reading from books that inspired and informed the novel, including “Montana Women Homesteaders: A Field of One’s Own,” which he purchased while visiting Missoula.
Lauren — While searching for images for Zeke’s recent story “Anaconda angles towards self-reliance,” I came across Farm Security Administration (FSA) photographer Russell Lee, who photographed life and industry across the West. The FSA was a New Deal agency created by Franklin D. Roosevelt designed to combat rural poverty during the Great Depression. Another facet of the FSA was hiring prominent photographers at the time to document the lives of Americans. Lee’s black-and-white images from 1942 of the Anaconda Smelter stack, particularly his portraits of the workers, made my jaw drop. Take a second to check out his beautiful, humanizing work on an important era of industry in Montana.
Nora — Chris La Tray’s “Becoming Little Shell” is a must-read! Growing up in western Montana, La Tray knew he was Native American but didn’t know much else about his identity or family history. La Tray interviews family members, friends, relatives, historians and tribal leaders to examine the history of the Métis and to better understand his own identity. It’s a page-turner!
Mara — Sometimes I still find myself puzzling over Jeannette Rankin. As the first woman elected to Congress — and so far the only woman Montanans have ever sent to D.C. — Rankin was also an assertive feminist, daring labor supporter and principled peace activist. Even in 2025, as she sinks deeper into the state’s history books, Rankin continues to strike me as politically radical and wonderfully complicated. “Jeannette Rankin: America’s Conscience” by Norma Smith is a great place to begin trying to figure her out.
Eric — A. B. Guthrie’s 1947 classic novel “The Big Sky,” about a troubled mountain man whose effort to live the good life in an untrammeled Montana ends in ill-fated tragedy, gave the state its “Big Sky” nickname. It also seeded the cultural inclination — particularly acute for many of us who found our way here in adulthood — to fret over the possibility that our messy human presence in this Last Best Place will inevitably spoil what we love most about it.
Zeke — The reading list assembled by my colleagues will probably keep you busy well into the new year. I thought I might offer a briefer option: a 1967 apolitical address delivered by longtime Montana politician Mike Mansfield about the people he represented.
*Some stories may require a subscription. Subscribe!
