West Virginia Watch

It is funded by States Newsroom which claims to be a “powerful force for social change, uniquely suited to challenging systemic inequality and racism.” ² Although West Virginia Watch claims to be non-partisan, the commentary articles it publishes are typically left-leaning. ³

Background

West Virginia Watch is an online news outlet located in Charleston, West Virginia focused on West Virgina’s government and policies. It was launched by States Newsroom located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in July 2023 as its 35th state news outlet. ⁴

As of March 2024, States Newsroom has 39 state-level news outlets focused on state politics and policy and a Washington, D.C. bureau that reports on U.S. Congressional, U.S. Supreme Court, and administrative decisions that impact the states. It was launched to focus on state governments, claiming that there has been a decrease in state level reporting by major news outlets. ⁵

It has described itself as “a progressive political journalism startup” in the past. ⁶ A Washington Post article described States Newsroom as a news network with state sites that was backed by the Hopewell Fund, “another liberal dark-money group.” ⁷ Job postings describe its journalism as a “powerful force for social change, uniquely suited to challenging systemic inequality and racism.” ²

West Virginia Watch will cover left-of-center issue areas including criminal justice, education, health, labor, and the environment. Editor-in-chief Leann Ray claims that the outlet will shine a light on “what those in power try to do without the public’s knowledge.” ¹

Political Leanings

Although States Newsroom and the West Virginia Watch are self-described as non-partisan, the commentary articles that are published are typically left-leaning. A March 2024 commentary criticized the West Virginia GOP’s lack of accomplishments. ⁸ Another March 2024 commentary reflected left-leaning values by supporting child tax care credits, school pay raises, gender-affirming care, and increased unemployment benefits. ⁹ A February 2024 article supported legislation to allow harm reduction services such as syringe distribution and pipe distribution. ¹⁰

Funding

Donations to the West Virginia Watch are made to States Newsroom which funds each of its state level news media outlets. Its 2022 tax return reports total revenues of $23,399,713 and total expenses of $18,734.586. It received contributions and grants of $23,316,863. ¹¹

Donors to States Newsroom include a long list of individual donors and several left-of-center institutions and donor-advised funds including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; the American Endowment Foundation; The GroundTruth Project; The Minneapolis Foundation; National Public Radio; the Network for Good; the North Fund; the Pew Charitable Trusts; ProPublica; Report for America; the Z Smith Reynolds Foundation; the Wyss Foundation; and the Hopewell Fund. ^{12 13}

The Wyss Foundation was founded by Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, a philanthropist, political supporter of left-of-center groups and politicians, a member of the Democracy Alliance, and a board member of the Center for American Progress. A 2021 New York Times article accused Wyss of investing in media organizations to “shape media coverage to help Democratic causes.” It stated that the Wyss Foundation donated $1 million to States Newsroom. ¹⁴

Team

Leann Ray is the West Virginia Watch editor-in-chief. She has a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in journalism from West Virginia University. Before joining West Virginia Watch, Ray worked for the Charleston Gazette-Mail for almost nine years, moving up to an editor position. ¹⁵

Lori Kersey is the Watch’s deputy editor. She has a bachelor’s degree from Marshal University and a master’s in communications from Morehead State University. Previously Kersey was a freelance writer and a reporter for the Charleston Gazette-Mail. ¹⁶

The Watch employs two additional reporters, Amelia Ferrell Knisely and Caty Coyne. Both joined the Charleston Gazette-Mail in 2019 and 2018 respectively through the Report for America program, ⁴ a program of The GroundTruth Project that places journalists into local newsrooms in response to the “collapse of local journalism.” ¹⁷ The Project is funded by large, left-of-center foundations including the Knight Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. ¹⁸