''Sandpoint Reader'' is a weekly newspaper published in

Sandpoint, Idaho Sandpoint (Kutenai language: kamanqukuⱡ) is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Bonner County, Idaho, Bonner County, Idaho. Its population was 8,639 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Sandpoint's major economic contributor ...

, providing local news, cultural and entertainment coverage. It is distributed free in

Bonner County, Idaho Bonner County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,110. The county seat and largest city is Sandpoint. Partitioned from Kootenai County and established in 1907, it was named ...

and

Boundary County, Idaho Boundary County is the northernmost county of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,056. The county seat and largest city is Bonners Ferry. Boundary County was created by the Idaho Legislature on January 23, 1 ...

History

The Reader was founded in 2004 by three recent journalism school graduates, Zach Hagadone, John Reuter and Chris DeCleur. The paper suspended publication in 2012 after the three founders departed from Sandpoint. In early 2015, the paper was relaunched by one of its former contributing writers, Ben Olson, as publisher, and Cameron Rasmusson as editor. Olson co-owns the paper with Keokee Co. Publishing, Inc., publisher of the local lifestyle magazine, Sandpoint Magazine. After four years as editor of the

Boise Weekly ''Boise Weekly'' is a newspaper in Boise, Idaho, United States. It was founded in 1992 by Andy and Debi Hedden-Nicely and Larry Regan. It is owned by Adams Publishing Group's Western Division and is part of ''The Idaho Press''. It has an unaudi ...

, Zach Hagadone returned to the Reader and succeeded Rasmusson as editor in 2019. Lyndsie Kiebert is news editor. In 2017 the Reader produced an eight-week series of in-depth articles and profiles on the

American Redoubt The American Redoubt is a political migration movement first proposed in 2011 by survivalist novelist and blogger James Wesley Rawles which designates Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming along with parts of Oregon and Washington (state), Washington, as ...

with support from the Idaho Press Club. An investigation in late 2017 by the Reader led to the first public identification of a neo-Nazi activist, Scott Rhodes, who was distributing racist and anti-semitic literature locally and making robocalls targeting high-profile events and political races nationally. The Reader in 2018 was subsequently targeted in harassing and threatening calls, videos and letters. National media including the

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

and others carried stories on the robocaller after the Reader broke the story. In January 2021, the FCC levied a $9.9 million fine on Rhodes for illegally using caller ID spoofing in making thousands of calls targeting communities with harmful recorded messages. The Idaho Press Club in its annual awards for 2020 named the Reader journalists for eight awards, including for pandemic and political reporting.

References

{{reflist

External links

''Sandpoint Reader'' website
Newspapers published in Idaho Newspapers established in 2004 Weekly newspapers published in the United States 2004 establishments in Idaho