local broadcasting hero

James White of Northwest Liberty News

James White of NWLN, at his corner office in downtown Kalispell and its many skyscrapers

Sometimes I contact potential interviewees and they want to see credentials and connections. Getting the truth out makes enemies and some journalists/bloggers- /researchers/authors are wary of inquiries. James White was easy-going and friendly right from the start, especially after I dropped the names of a couple down in the Bitterroot who gave me his contact information. “I’ve had plenty of threats, but I’m not worried about what they might do to me. I’m just gonna keep putting the truth out.”

James runs Northwest Liberty News. He does tons of interviews and investigative reporting. His biggest projects so far involve investigating heinous abuse at CPS (Child Protective Services), and uncovering corruption at a local, Northwest Montana credit union.

James invited Lukas and me over to see his operation, both his office in town and his equipment up on the tower hill above Kalispell. He gave me some great tips on things I might do for BBR. I asked him if I might use his content for BBR and he said, “Sure!”

gotta get me one of those mini-boards with the blue buttons on the left. It’s gives you a one-touch command for all kinds of stuff, like really important stuff, such as laugh tracks and the all-important sting (ba dum, chiii) after a weak joke.

Here’s where James broadcasts the NWLN signal from. He’s also running two TV stations, broadcasting from almost the Canadian border all the way down to Poulson.

Jim and his tech guy from Spokane tried to explain all this stuff to us, and give us an idea of how much broadcasting radio over the airwaves costs. I’ll start with just internet, and then I’d better find some donors.

What to do after a couple days of intense research in Kalispell? Head to Glacier National Park of course. The weather was perfect: 35 degrees with mixed rain and snow!

Lukas and I had just enough time for the Avalanche Lake hike on the west side of GNP. We got back to the car after dark.

We were blessed with a break in the weather to set up camp. You can camp for free at Agpar campground. It was just us and a single camper van down the way. Lukas, Mr. roughin it, uses that tiny one-man tent which he can barely fit into. I prefer the luxury of the two-man with rainfly. I had it all set up but couldn’t figure out why the tent was in such a weird shape. I kept checking all my poles and connections but the tent wouldn’t straighten out. Finally I said, “Hey Luke, take a look at this. What do you suppose is making this tent all cockeyed?”

Luke took a quick look then picked the whole tent up off the ground. “Maybe you need to take it off this stump.” (the one in the picture with the hatchet on it)

-Oh, thanks Luke. Good sleuthing there!

Next: Will Luke stick by his promise to take a swim in Lake McDonald?