Spokane, WA – RANGE, the iconic journalism brand you know for its cooperative structure, deep investigations, civic engagement barcrawls, and the raw animal magnetism of its staff is back with its most shameless ambitious project yet:
Putting designs on clothes you can buy to show your commitment to accountability while helping RANGE keep afflicting the powerful and empowering the afflicted.
On announcing the collection, Editor and Chief Athleisure Officer Luke Baumgarten said the team at RANGE wanted to offer everyone in the Inland Northwest — and beyond — affordable, approachable ways to look and feel good during the unending fight for transparency and accountability.
“We wanted to make something for the fighters. The journalists and community members working to build something better,” Baumgarten said, “We want people to think: The devil wears Prada, but li’l civic angels wear Newsy.”
When you buy the official Newsy Couture winter collection, several things happen:
And while holding power to account is serious business, Newsy Couture designs are fun, flirty and fierce — perfect for when you need to tackle a tough story, speak in front of council, or just let people around you know that the state of the world gave you an anxiety disorder and your doctor prescribed a healthy dose of civic engagement.
“With looks this clean,” Baumgarten said, “sunlight just became the second best disinfectant.”
Audience Editor and Plushness Czar Valerie Osier said the brand was born from many conversations about how the needs of journalists are similar to the needs of the communities they cover. “We just thought: well, whether you’re a journalist comforting the afflicted or you are the afflicted — doesn’t it always come back to ‘comfort’?”
That’s why the inaugural Newsy Couture winter collection is full of items breathable enough to keep reporters cool while chasing down hot leads, and cozy enough to wait for the actual answer to how many warming beds the city will fund this winter. They include:
“I’m especially excited for people to try the embroidered dad cap,” said Aaron Hedge, RANGE’s environment reporter and Liberty State breau chief, “It really helps me blend in when I want to — like at separatist rallies — and I can wave it around to flag down the rescue chopper if I need a quick extraction.”
At a news conference she held in her own head, city hall reporter and Officer of Edge Erin Sellers was asked whether the journalists at RANGE were comfortable making themselves the story. “Look, some things in life are just newsworthy,” Sellers replied. “These clothes, RANGE Media, your ass — it all belongs on the front page, baby.”
The store is live now, with more designs coming throughout the month (we all know journalists love pushing deadlines!). To shop the collection, visit www.rangemedia.co/shop.
For a preview of styles and to follow RANGE’s actual work, find us on Instagram, Bluesky, TikTok and the platform we will never call anything but Twitter. Tell your grandparents we’re also on Facebook.
Find our website at www.rangemedia.co (if you’re into that sort of thing)
About RANGE:
We believe our communities are stronger when our newsrooms are run by truth’s fiercest advocates: the journalists themselves. Since 2020, RANGE has built a newsroom that empowers working people with civic education and people-centered investigative reporting.
We are emphatically anti-racist, class-focused and passionate about bridging divides to build solidarity among all people, but especially working people. As a worker-owned cooperative dedicated to democratic management, RANGE exists to serve our region, to resurrect thriving careers in local news and to ensure rank-and-file journalists have the power to direct our growth in ways that best support the beats they cover and the community we all serve.
Contact: Luke Baumgarten
Editor & Chief Athleisure Officer, RANGE
luke@rangemedia.co
509-508-1055
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