On April 16, 2025, the Spokane Spokesman-Review's front page carried a striking headline: "The People's Paper." The story beneath it said the 143-year-old, family-owned newspaper would transfer ownership to a nonprofit founded by Executive Editor Rob Curley. It was a plan meant to signal a new era for the paper.
Instead, the announcement set off a staff backlash. Nieman Lab's account describes the outcome as "a newsroom revolt," though the report does not detail the staff's specific objections or how the conflict unfolded. The revolt suggests the front-page narrative did not match the internal reality at the paper.
The episode shows how a bold ownership proposal can falter when the people who produce the paper are not won over. What was styled as a people's paper ended up facing the people it relied on most: its own newsroom.