The Electric is an independent news website focused on Great Falls and Cascade County, as well as Malmstrom Air Force Base and the Montana National Guard.

The Electric is run by Jenn Rowell, a journalist with more than a decade of journalism experience.

Jenn previously covered city government/military issues for the Great Falls Tribune and before that, covered the military and other beats for papers in Alabama and Virginia, as well as did communications work for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and the National Museum of Health and Medicine. She has served on the boards of the Society of Professional Journalists and Military Reporters and Editors.

Her journalism awards and training include:

• • • • • Selected for 2019 Poynter workshop on covering the arts
• Selected for 2018 Poynter workshop on covering jails
• Attended 2018 LION Publishers Summit in Chicago
• International Association of Fire Fighters, Media Award, 2016
• Best of Gannett Quarterly Award, 2014
• Attended Medill National Security Journalism Initiative’s conference in June 2011 and invite-only training workshop in October 2014
• President’s Award, Society of Professional Journalists, 2010
• National Association of Secretaries of State Medallion, Alabama Secretary of State, 2010
• Jim Crawley Award, Military Reporters and Editors, 2009
• SPJ Virginia Pro scholarship recipient, 2005

You can find some of Jenn’s previous work here and here.

The kind of stories you can expect to find here: how local government works; things that seem boring, such as taxes, budgets, municipal code and ordinance updates, but actually impact your life; analysis of economic development, downtown revitalization, and the local business climate; food security, the local food network, agriculture and local impact to the bigger food picture in the U.S.; news from the Montana National Guard and Malmstrom Air Force Base, which will often include broader nuclear issues, military and national security stories.

The kind of stories you won’t likely find here: cat videos, lists of the best places to retire, celebrities who crashed their car in Montana, car accidents, petty crime or car chases (unless there’s a danger to the public over an extended period of time). You can find that kind of information elsewhere. But that’s not to say we won’t have a little fun from time to time.

The Electric does not accept op/eds.

Questions or story ideas, get in touch at jenn@theelectricgf.com. Want to send some documents or other snail mail? Ship it to The Electric, Jenn Rowell, P.O. Box 2643, Great Falls, MT 59403.

Ethics Policy

The Electric subscribes to the Society of Professional Journalist’s Code of Ethics:

Preamble

Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. Ethical journalism strives to ensure the free exchange of information that is accurate, fair and thorough. An ethical journalist acts with integrity.

The Society declares these four principles as the foundation of ethical journalism and encourages their use in its practice by all people in all media.

Seek Truth and Report It: Ethical journalism should be accurate and fair. Journalists should be honest and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.

Minimize Harm: Ethical journalism treats sources, subjects, colleagues and members of the public as human beings deserving of respect.

Act Independently: The highest and primary obligation of ethical journalism is to serve the public.

Be Accountable and Transparent: Ethical journalism means taking responsibility for one’s work and explaining one’s decisions to the public.

Fact Checking Policy

Reporters must verify the information they gather. This includes identifying information such as names and positions, but also includes factual statements and accounts. Reporters conduct their own fact checking using their own judgment guided by the ethics policy.

Corrections Policy

The Electric welcomes corrections or additional information on stories at jenn@theelectricgf.com. Stories that have substantive corrections will be noted as such and those that are updated will also be noted. Minor typos will be corrected as they are noticed.

Ownership and Funding

The Electric Media Group, aka The Electric, is owned solely by Jenn Rowell and is funded through advertising and reader contributions. The Electric Media Group is a LLC registered with the Montana Secretary of State.

Contributions, while appreciated, will not influence editorial content.