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Outlet profile

Idaho Capital Sun

U.S. nonprofit state-government news; modest center-left tilt in network origins and story selection

Owned byOperated as part of States Newsroom, a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit network. Idaho Capital Sun is its Idaho affiliate. The network has no individual owner or for-profit parent.
FundingDonations and grants from readers, foundations and philanthropists. It runs no ads and has no paywall. It also gets some revenue from republication partnerships with other outlets. States Newsroom was launched in 2019 with backing from the Hopewell Fund, a progressive fiscal sponsor managed by Arabella Advisors. It became independent that year. Some donors are not publicly itemized.
On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

Idaho Capital Sun launched in 2020 as a States Newsroom outlet, taking its place among the network's affiliates in about 21 states, with a stated aim of filling gaps left by shrinking local newsrooms. Christina Lords, a former Idaho Statesman editor, is editor-in-chief. States Newsroom began in 2019 as a project of the Hopewell Fund, which is managed by Arabella Advisors and is regarded as left-of-center. It then became an independent nonprofit. Critics on the right, including Capital Research Center, the Daily Signal and others, describe the network as progressive, citing its origins and an early job posting that used the phrase 'progressive political journalism startup.' NewsGuard also raised concerns about the network's early backing. The network says it keeps editorial independence from donors and describes its reporting as fact-based and nonpartisan. The Capital Sun does original statehouse and policy reporting on the legislature, education, health care, elections and public lands. It also reposts national States Newsroom stories and publishes opinion pieces separately. Its coverage generally focuses on how government decisions affect residents. In Idaho's Republican-dominated politics, that often means scrutiny of Republican-led policy and of Trump administration actions, though it does report on both parties and uses straight news formats.

Sources

  1. States Newsroom Launches Idaho Capital Sun
  2. Idaho Capital Sun finds niche in nonprofit world
  3. States Newsroom (Newsroom Network) - Influence Watch
  4. States Newsroom - Wikipedia
  5. This nonprofit has newsrooms in all 50 state capitals. Is it the future of state journalism? - Columbia Journalism Review
  6. Watch Out, Alaska, More Partisan News Is Coming Your Way - Capital Research Center

Profile compiled 2026-10-30; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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