BELLINGHAM, Wash. — This summer, two of the news outlets covering Bellingham and this region brought in new editors-in-chief, while others tightened the corporate stranglehold on their content or took a new editorial direction.
In our view, coverage across this market skews further left and right depending on the publication than it should.
In fact, we’ve watched a few competitors run advertising tied to political candidates and campaigns, something PNW Daily has never done and is not open to reconsidering.
We believe special interests, and the outlets willing to take their money, already hold far too much power in Olympia and in how this region’s news gets shaped. We are not willing to add our name, or our advertising dollars, to that pile.
PNW Daily has never accepted paid political advertising, and we are formalizing that as permanent policy. We will not sell ad space, video features, sponsored coverage, or any other advertising product to candidates, campaigns, political parties, or ballot measure committees, at any level of government.
This has always been our practice. We think readers deserve to know why, and why we are putting it in writing now. If you see a candidate featured in our content, it’s news, not an ad.
Why We’re Doing This
PNW Daily exists to cover this region honestly, including the politics that shape it.
That coverage only means something if readers can trust it was not for sale. Taking money from the same candidates and committees we report on creates a conflict that no disclaimer fully resolves. We would rather not create the appearance of that conflict in the first place.
This is our opinion, and we are stating it plainly: we believe far too much money moves through political advertising in this country, at every level from city council races to statewide campaigns. Local radio stations in this market routinely charge political advertisers often triple (or more) their standard commercial rate simply because campaigns have the budget and the deadline pressure to pay it. That is a legitimate business decision for those stations to make. We have decided it is not one we want to make.
Fiercely Independent, On Purpose
PNW Daily is independently owned. No corporation, political party, or outside PAC money directs our coverage. We believe that matters, because we also believe some corporate-funded news outlets in this region carry bias well beyond political advertising, in the stories they choose to cover, the sources they lean on, and the sponsors they answer to.
We would rather serve the public at the expense of growth and remain independent than trade that independence for profit.
Other outlets covering this region take a different approach, including at least one competitor that accepts political ad dollars and whose coverage, in our view, reflects it. That is their choice to make. We are choosing differently, and we accept that it may cost us revenue a competitor is willing to take.
This is a challenging time for local and corporate media outlets, but we feel PNW Daily exists because legacy brands are failing to meet the demands of a community wanting to know more than the pre-approved press release version of events.
What Stays the Same
This policy applies to paid advertising only.
PNW Daily will continue covering politics, elections, candidates, ballot measures, and the issues driving them, the same way we cover everything else in Whatcom County and across the region: directly, and without a price tag attached.
What Washington Law Requires of Outlets That Do Take Political Money
Outlets that choose to sell political advertising in Washington are not free of obligations once the check clears.
Under rules enforced by the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, an outlet selling political advertising must keep a copy of the ad, a description of the work involved in producing or placing it, and the name of the candidate or ballot measure it references. Those records have to be kept for at least five years after the relevant election, and made available for public inspection on request, including to the PDC itself.
The ad also has to carry a sponsor disclaimer identifying who paid for it. None of this makes political advertising illegal or improper for outlets that choose to sell it. It simply means that once you take the money, the state expects you to document exactly who it came from and where it went.
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