Every month, in council chambers, commission hearings, and court dockets across this valley, decisions are made that affect what your street looks like, what your water costs, who patrols your neighborhood, and where public money goes.
Most of those decisions are written down—in agendas, minutes, budgets, contracts, resolutions, and filings that residents have a right to read.
Most residents do not have the time to read them all.
That is not a criticism. It is a capacity problem. The Lower Valley has more public decisions than it has reporters available to watch them. When the record goes unread, the explanation that travels farthest can be the one supplied by the people with the most power to shape it.
Reading the Record exists to close that gap.
What this is
Reading the Record is an independent local newsroom with a clear specialty: the public record.
We start in Toppenish. As the work earns it, we will grow into coverage of the Yakama Nation, the Lower Valley, Yakima County, and Washington. When a federal agency, court, grant, or ruling reaches into this valley, we will follow its local effects.
Read the documents. Show the work. Ask the people in power. Tell readers what is known, disputed, and still missing.
Whenever possible, our stories link to the records behind them so readers can check the reporting themselves. When someone is criticized, that person or institution gets a genuine chance to respond. When we get something wrong, we say so—promptly, visibly, and with a dated correction.
What you will get
- Record Briefs: one decision, contract, filing, or agenda item explained quickly.
- Meeting Watch: what is coming before councils, boards, and commissions—and why it matters.
- Explainers: budgets, audits, laws, maps, and court filings translated into plain language.
- Accountability reporting: original stories about consequential decisions, patterns, and breakdowns, built on documents and interviews.
A free weekly newsletter will carry the most important reporting straight to your inbox.
About our byline
Stories here are published under the publication’s name rather than a personal byline. That is a deliberate choice, and we explain it fully in Why We Publish This Way.
The short version is simple: we want the work judged on the documents and the reporting, not on personalities. Everything we publish should be checkable without requiring readers to take our word for it.
What this is not
Reading the Record does not accept political campaign money or sell favorable coverage, opposition research, or access to editorial decisions. We do not publish as a partisan outlet, and we are not a rumor site.
The newsroom is founder-funded today, free to read, and building toward reader support. A publication that answers to its readers has a better chance of staying independent.
What we are asking
Three things:
- Sign up free. The newsletter is how this newsroom grows.
- Send us documents. Agendas, contracts, letters, and filings—if you think something deserves a closer read, tell us.
- Tell us what to watch. Which institutions and decisions should we follow? We are building the coverage list with you.
The record is public. Someone should read it.
— The Editor / Reading the Record / readingtherecord.org