photo by: Matt Stern photo by: Angus M. Thuermer Jr. photo by: Ruffin Prevost

WyoFilePeople, Places & Policy

CONTENTS

01

05

02

06

03

07

04

08

09

10

Letter from the board

WyoFile’s reporting impact

A note from Dustin and Lorena

Top stories from 2014

WyoFile staff

Financials

WyoFile board of directors

Financials

WyoFile’s commitment to readers in 2015

Thank you to our supporters

01

To donors, readers & subscribers

It has been a banner year for Wyoming’s premier online news organization and the staff and board here would like to thank you for making it all possible. Your donations have allowed us to increase our staffing, intensify our coverage and improve the website and newsletter that carry news to your inbox.This year, we published more stories than ever in our history, including:

Publication of the Two Elk Saga, a powerful investigation into the mishandling of millions of dollars in state and federal funds.

Insightful coverage of faculty unrest and administrative turmoil at the University of Wyoming.

A statewide perspective on the breaking news that same-sex couples can legally wed in the state.

We expanded our staff, adding a veteran natural resources reporter to the news team. We also hired an experienced executive director to ensure that WyoFile is a sustainable business and a quality workplace for all of our employees.

We’ve invested in making the important news concerning the people, places and policies that drive Wyoming clear, timely and easy for you to access. We’ve been able to make those investments because you invested in us. We hope that you see your support at work in the pages of this year in review.

Thank you — WyoFile’s Board of Directors

A note from Dustin & Lorena

Dear readers and supporters,

WyoFile had an impressive 2014. We grew our staff to provide you with better service, set out to improve our website which now makes navigation even easier, and we increased our number of readers and donors. Without you, the staff, contractors, board, and regular contributors including Kelsey Dayton and Kerry Drake, WyoFile would not be as successful as we are today. The following pages offer a glimpse of our 2014 successes, how we have grown, and gives you some insight into how we operate and where we spend the hard-earned dollars you entrust in us.

Thank you for your support and for your dedication to quality and fearless journalism in Wyoming.

Lorena Garcia, executive directorDustin Bleizeffer, editor-in-chief

02

Dustin and Lorena

make up WyoFile’s

management team.

Dustin is charged with

WyoFile’s editorial

direction and Lorena sets

the pace for Wyofile’s

business development.

03

WyoFile staffExecutive director

Editor-in-chief

Operations manager

Natural resources reporter

Policy reporter

Lorena Garcia - Oversees the implementation of the strategic

plan. She secures necessary resources for WyoFile and oversees

the promotion, and expansion through on-the-ground tactics, online

methods and everything between.

Dustin Bleizeffer - Develops and implements the editorial strategy.

He spends hours at his desk, on the phone and on the road ensuring

that our readership receives the most accurate, well-researched news

in Wyoming. Author of Power to the People.

Guy V. Padgett III - He takes care of the details that make us run.

He oversees our financials, administrative and business operations.

He has his finger on WyoFile’s pulse, in the small things and in the

larger vision.

Angus M. Thuermer Jr. - With 35 years experience as a Wyoming

journalist, he brings an extensive background in natural resources

through life and reporting experience. Can’t get enough of his news

stories? Be sure to check out his blog: Wide-open Wyoming

Gregory Nickerson - You may have seen him on TV or heard

him on the radio, and of course you have read his unprecedented

reporting on the happenings under the capitol dome. He is also

WyoFile’s main contributor to Cheyennigans.

04

WyoFile board of directors

Anne MacKinnon Patrick Larvie

Anne Ladd Gary Scott

Nadia White Gene Ruckman

Board chair, brings a wealth

of knowledge and guidance

through her experience

working in journalism and

natural resources. Anne lives in

Casper.

Board vice chair, a self-

described news-junkie, he’s

most passionate about making

public life more transparent,

the political process more

approachable, and to

encourage civic participation.

Board treasurer, brings

diverse experience in

community service, business,

health and journalism that

provides a different perspective

needed to ensure WyoFile’s

success.

Board secretary, offers

WyoFile his legal expertise

to ensure that our practices

are inline with the highest

operating standards as well

as brings the perspective as a

news consumer.

Member-at-large, a veteran

reporter and editor, is an

associate professor at the

University of Montana School

of Journalism where she

teaches old-school journalism

in the new media model.

Member-at-large, a

graduate from the University

of Wyoming, knows the

news industry inside and

out and brings marketing

and campaign development

expertise to WyoFile.

WyoFile provides

in-depth news,

analysis, and

commentary written

and edited by leading

local journalists

at no charge to all

segments of the

state. WyoFile shares

its content with all

Wyoming media for

free to help ensure

those local papers

and broadcast

stations can provide

in-depth information

to their readers and

listeners. It covers

the state’s critical

public issues with

an independent,

autonomous editorial

voice.

photo by: Greg Nickerson

photo by: Angus M. Thuermer Jr.

photo by: Lorena Garcia

photo by: Gregory Nickersonphoto by: Angus M. Thuermer Jr.

photo by: Leine Stikkel

WyoFile reporting impact

05

WyoFile’s successes in 2014 include the groundbreaking online investigative series The Two Elk Saga (which was also compiled into an eBook); our continued examination of health care issues and policies; and fearless reporting on the aftershocks of the University of Wyoming’s tumultuous Sternberg era of energy influence within the administration. WyoFile also teamed up with UW’s Communications and Journalism Department to host the 2014 Wyoming Watchdog Workshop, conducted by Investigative Reporters & Editors. By giving clarity, prominence, and context to these issues, WyoFile empowered readers and Wyoming residents to participate in civic matters and hold elected leaders accountable. WyoFile’s media colleagues in the state took notice, too, accepting WyoFile’s insistence that its focus on these topics are worthy of further reporting and examination by republishing our stories in print and online, and by joining WyoFile in their own efforts to cover these issues in detail.

The year brought several key organizational successes as well. In March WyoFile hired Lorena Garcia as Executive Director, and in May WyoFile hired longtime Wyoming journalist Angus M. Thuermer Jr. as its natural resources reporter. Garcia made huge strides in setting WyoFile’s revenue and support networks on solid ground, while Thuermer’s reporting has brought clarity to just how much humans intervene in Wyoming’s complicated patchwork of land, water, air and wildlife.

06

Top stories from 2014

Photographers sue to stop Grand Teton elk huntAction in D.C. court says elk feeding is cause of hunt that killed one grizzly bear and

could kill four more.

Q&A: Al Simpson on same-sex marriage in the Equality

StateAl Simpson on same-sex marriage in the Equality State: “Regardless of what

happens in this case, we will have gay marriage in Wyoming this year.”

Study: Non-hunters contribute most to wildlifeWhile hunters generate funds for state agencies, federal lands in the West are the

essential foundation.

Ancient Life in the High TetonsNew archaeological finds suggest prehistoric people lived above 9,000 feet in what is

now Grand Teton National Park.

America’s longest mule deer migration discovered in

WyomingThe discovery of America’s longest mule deer migration by Wyoming scientists adds

to a burgeoning awareness of where animals move and why they move.

As WyoFile produced more content in 2014 it also experienced significant increases in reader traffic and engagement. Here are WyoFile’s top 5 most read stories of 2014.

2014 IncomeWyoFile financesFoundations

Individual donors

Grand total

Underwriters

Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation $ 50,000.00

$ 120,000.00

$ 37,500.00

$ 540.00

$ 9,967.04

$ 2,000.00

$ 724.27

$ 220,731.31

433 Donors

Wyoming Medical Center

Wyoming Humanities Council

Dragicevich Wyoming Foundation

Investigative News Network

George B. Storer Foundation

283 New donors

Wind River Hotel & Casino

Wyoming Community Foundation

Miami Community Foundation

John S. & James L. Knight Foundation

Wyofile is a non-profit

organization. All donations

received are tax deductible.

We receive our funding from

foundations, individual donors

and underwriting. It is our

goal to increase our support

from donors and underwriters

in order to operate in a more

sustainable financial position.

07

$ 141,272.22

$ 6,070.50

Grand Total

Grand Total

WyoFile financesWyoFile income sources

WyoFile spending percentages

Total income

Total expense

Grants $ 220,731.31

$ 235,240.23

$ 141,272.22

$ 47,882.15

$ 6,070.50

$ 88,237.91

$ 1,090.00

59 %

63.35 %

38 %

12.89 %

2 %

23.76 %

1 %

100 %

100 %

Editorial

Donors

Development

Underwriters

Admin

Others

$ 371,792.05

$ 371,360.29

08

WyoFile commitment to readers

09

Our readers, donors and subscribers have entrusted in us the challenge and opportunity to inform them on the issues most important to our great state. With this trust, we commit to quality journalism in 2015 that is rooted in the pursuit of truth, good storytelling and easy access through modern media.

WyoFile’s editorial staff will continue to search beyond the headlines to report what drives the decisions that help determine the quality of life in Wyoming communities and on its landscape.

WyoFile will continue to provide accountability in government, broader and deeper understanding of health care, education and natural resource issues.

WyoFile commits to making sure every corner of the state knows about us to support the growth of an informed and engaged citizenry in Wyoming.

Thank you to our supporters

10

Nadia White

Paul Klingenstein

Joe Albright

Eric Barlow

Don Dorn

Dave Ebertz

Megan Hayes

John Heyneman

Frosty Kepler

Anne Ladd

Patrick Larvie

Kenneth Lay

Doreen McElvany

W K Nelson

Geoff O’Gara

Anne Pendergast

Lollie Plank

John Schiffer

Gary Scott

John Vincent

Lucy Waletzky

Pete Williams

Jazmyn McDonald

Sandy & Miguel Leotta

John Vincent

The Lockwood Family

Kristy Bleizeffer

Lori Brand

Audrey Cotherman

Claire Dunne

Lorena Garcia

Edith Healy

Katie Hogarty

Maria Katherman

Dennis Knight

Arthur Kolis

Anne MacKinnon

Nathan Martin

Tatiana Maxwell

Jared Miller

Amy Nagler

Harry Ruckman

Juliette Rule

Cyndy Simer

Shannon Smith

Linda Stoval

John Vincent

Gregg Warnock

Jill Welborn

Trailblazer Circle Major Donors

$500+

Cornerstone Circle Recurring Donors

photo by: Angus M. Thuermer Jr. photo by: Joe Riis.