Journalists at Missoula town hall warn paywalls, consolidation, algorithms and AI threaten local reporting

Candace Horton, co-lead of Indivisible Missoula's town-hall series, opened the event at St. Paul’s by thanking volunteers and noting that MCAT’s media-assistant grants fund the livestream and recordings. "I am the co-lead for the town hall committees for Indivisible Missoula," Horton said, and outlined the panel and small-group Q&A format.

The three journalists on the panel — Nora, who covers indigenous affairs at Montana Free Press; Rob Cheney, senior staff writer for Mountain Journal and Montana Free Press; and Marica Giorgio, a political journalist and former national correspondent — framed a broad discussion of threats to press freedom and practical steps communities can take to sustain local news. The moderator cited the World Press Freedom Index to open the conversation, noting the global decline in scores and that the U.S. fell several places on the index.

Nora said local staffing and ownership were a central concern: "I think one of the biggest threats is um corporate ownership and just lack of investment," she said, describing how paywalls can block the very sources reporters seek to serve, especially for coverage of tribal communities. Rob said audience habits and algorithms also reshape the information environment, arguing that many people now passively consume news because "It just comes to me. It shows up on my phone," a pattern he said narrows perspective and fuels conspiracy-driven explanations.

Marica added a federal-access concern, saying recent changes at agencies have raised practical barriers for reporters: she described a new Pentagon requirement that has limited access for some legacy reporters who covered the department for decades. She also stressed how political rhetoric that labels reporting "fake news" compounds declining trust and ad revenue, which in turn squeezes staffing.

Panelists discussed social media’s role in amplifying polarization and reported harms to journalists, including targeted online harassment. They also described ways reporters use platforms for reporting — for example, joining local and tribal Facebook groups to find sources — while warning that platform algorithms frequently prioritize rage or viral content, distorting what reaches readers.

The audience asked about artificial intelligence and verification. Panelists said AI poses two distinct issues: tools that can help reporters (automated transcription, Google Pinpoint to sift documents) and generative models that can hallucinate facts or produce plagiarized content. Rob described finding a widely shared post that lifted and rearranged material from his book, illustrating how AI-powered or AI-amplified posts can misattribute reporting. At the same time Nora described selective uses of AI to surface relevant passages in lengthy records so reporters can verify and then edit the output.

For verification, the panel recommended multilayered practices: check primary documents, look for clear attribution in articles, prefer outlets and reporters who correct errors, and use established fact-checking sites and search techniques (panelists named Snopes and Google image-search watermarking among useful tools). They encouraged readers to follow individual reporters and support local outlets through subscriptions, memberships or donations.

On practical community action, panelists urged people to share important stories directly (text or email rather than only posting to social algorithms), attend and amplify local reporting in person, and pitch reporters with narrow, concrete story leads and willing interviewees. Horton closed by announcing the next town hall about investing with values and asking attendees to consider optional donations to St. Paul’s for use of the space.

The town hall did not include formal votes or motions; instead it focused on diagnosis of problems facing journalism and a mix of short-term and long-term remedies the community can pursue.