📰 Inside CDN 03/30/26

From the editor’s desk: Cascadia Daily News, launched 4.5 years ago as a fledgling newspaper and website, takes another big community-connection leap forward today, with the launch of an 11-episode podcast, “On Background: Demystify Local News.”

The intent is exactly what the name says: Taking civic-minded Northwest Washington residents behind the scenes for a conversation with people who report, and make, news in Whatcom and Skagit counties.

Our podcast, ably hosted by CDN staffers Alana Marcum and Bree Zender, will appear weekly starting tomorrow. Both hosts joined team CDN in the past year, bringing what I consider bonus-skill material — public radio backgrounds and keen skills as interviewers.

CDN subscribers reading this newsletter can get an exclusive sneak peek today, at this link. “On Background” will then be available weekly on our website here, on popular podcast platforms, and for non-pod regulars, on our YouTube, as well.

Season One is an audio tour through CDN’s newsroom hive mind, starting with yours truly talking about our local news organization’s formation, mission, goals and practices. I answer some important and rarely discussed questions, including “What were you thinking?” and “How much involvement does your owner have in your news process?”

No spoilers there; you can hear it on your own. The second episode is an engaging meet/greet with CDN’s two managing editors, Audra Anderson and Jaya Flanary. The leading brains behind our daily news operation chat about what they bring to news decisions made here every day. The series then winds through our staff, giving you first-person details about work approaches by our talented staff of editors, reporters and visual journalists.

I think you’ll find these engaging, and hope they find a solid audience here in the upper-left corner. The podcast is the result of countless hours of work, particularly by Marcum, our 2025 Kentucky transplant, who said the project has been a labor of love.

“Audio storytelling has been my creative outlet for over a decade,” she says. “It took a back seat while I shifted into my new role at CDN a year ago. I’m thankful to be part of a newsroom that’s not only excited to start a podcast but also willing to let me take the lead and nerd out. It feels good to be using the skills I’ve learned throughout my career to bring something new to Whatcom and Skagit counties.”

Much credit for the project goes to Frank Catalano, CDN’s business contributor, another multitalented broadcast vet who got the ball rolling on this project more than a year ago. Don’t be surprised to hear Frank’s voice as a guest in season two, which premieres later this year and will focus on our special projects.

We appreciate everyone who gives us a listen. And we want to know what you think. Send your feedback to me at [email protected] or Alana at [email protected].

With the sending of last week’s “Prep Talk” by CDN Sports Editor Nick Zeller-Singh, our full launch of six subscriber-only newsletters is now complete. Thanks to all our readers who have opened these newsletters at rates well off the charts!

Artistic renderings of new public projects have long been the source of bemusement in newsrooms — particularly when building designers clumsily insert faux human beings into architectural renderings. Such was the case this week, when the City of Bellingham issued an apparently AI-generated image of the new space it is conceiving for the city’s new Civic Athletic Complex in the Puget Neighborhood.

It took about two minutes for newsroom folks to notice a few … oddities about the drawing, including an elderly person attempting to set a new land/speed record in a bike lane and various folks strolling around a promenade seemingly without touching the ground.

We reproduce it here for a fun and admittedly nefarious purpose: an image captioning contest! Send your own suggestions by clicking the button below or sending me an email at [email protected]. The grand prize winner will get a piece of CDN swag, to be determined.

Thanks for supporting your independent local free press. It matters.

Early pulse check here: Ski to Sea, the late-May multistage race from Mt. Baker Ski Area to Bellingham Bay, is unquestionably Whatcom County’s biggest annual event, drawing tens of thousands of participants and spectators.

Cascadia Daily News: On Background. Season 1, Episode 1. Be among the first to hear a sneak peek here.

The Atlantic: “How AI is Creeping Into The New York Times,” (paywall) by Vauhini Vara. An alarming look at the growing task — and potential nightmare — for media organizations policing content from staffers and especially outside contributors that might be “AI slop” created all or in part by generative artificial intelligence. The sort of thing that keeps editors awake late at night. Don’t ask me how I know. (Bonus: Read CDN’s AI policy here.)

The Guardian: “Trump now calls war reporting ‘treason.’ His attacks on the press are escalating fast,” by Margaret Sullivan. One of America’s foremost media critics dishes on the current president’s relentless assault on First Amendment press freedoms. It’s patently unAmerican.

The New York Times: “Canada to Expand Military Presence in Arctic, Following Trump Threats,” by Ian Austen, reporting from Yellowknife. Maple Leaf nation takes up arms — big ones. Are they meant to detour the Russians — or us?