This week on a special edition of The Backstory, host Sabrina Halvorson takes listeners behind the scenes to explore how the North Dakota News Cooperative came to be. She sits down with NDNC board co-chair Steve Andrist, one of the organization’s original founders and a lifelong champion of local journalism.
In their conversation, Andrist reflects on the changing landscape of the news industry, the challenges facing community newspapers, and the growing need for a nonprofit model that could provide fair, in-depth reporting across the state. He also describes how a wide group of leaders from North Dakota’s media and business communities helped shape the early vision.
One quote from Andrist captures the heart of NDNC’s mission:

“One of the things we said from the beginning is that our work would be for North Dakotans, about North Dakota, by North Dakotans.”

The episode highlights why trusted, nonpartisan journalism remains essential for informed communities and a healthy democracy—and what makes NDNC uniquely positioned to fill that need.

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