New reporter to help expand Western News coverage of sports, courts, Troy and more

By JOHN BLODGETT

The Western News

The Western News has hired Benjamin Kibbey as a reporter, an addition that will enable the paper to expand both the scope of its coverage and the amount of locally produced content.

Kibbey, whose first day was Monday, Jan. 22, will be the beat reporter for sports and recreation, courts and Troy.

He moved to Libby from Nashville, Indiana, where he had been working as a 911 dispatcher since being laid off from the Brown County Democrat almost a year ago, when the corporate owner eliminated his newsroom position.

Kibbey said he was happy to be a dispatcher there until he found a journalism job in a community worth leaving for.

“I never saw myself leaving that community until I couldn’t be a reporter there any longer, and even then it was a hard break to make,” he said. “If I was going to leave to go back to journalism, it had to be for a community I felt was worth it. I didn’t apply to jobs in Indianapolis or Chicago, or even Louisville or Billings. I applied only to small, local papers in small, rural communities.”

A lot of people didn’t understand his desire to seek out an opportunity in a smaller community, Kibbey said.

“I think if there’s any future (in newspapers or communities), it’s in people who understand the value of close-knit communities and neighbors looking out for neighbors,” he said. “I want to be in the kind of place where I’m known and know people. I want to be part of a community, to tell the big stories that too often are thought of as small, and to contribute in whatever way I can.”

Kibbey’s joining The Western News has had an immediate impact that will affect the newspaper’s mix of local content moving forward, allowing it to significantly reduce or eliminate reliance upon content produced by the Daily Inter Lake -- even content that was specifically assigned by The Western News. There will also be fewer wire stories.

High school sports fans can expect expanded coverage of area athletes throughout the year, and not just on the courts or fields but also beyond.

“I have come to see sports as an integral part of education, because it is the first place many young people learn to be adults,” Kibbey said. “It teaches them how to conduct themselves in victory and in defeat. It teaches them the importance of working with others, and that no one can succeed alone as well as they can as a member of a team. It teaches them discipline and, in the words of somewhat infamous Hoosier Coach Bobby Knight, it teaches them that, ‘The key is not the will to win. Everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.’”

Troy residents will be better served by Kibbey becoming a familiar face in their community and attending City Council and other meetings.

“As I told Mayor Dallas Carr recently, from the short amount I’ve read of Troy’s history, I know the town is no stranger to tough times and hard decisions,” Kibbey said. “From what I understand, during the Great Depression, the population was about half of what it is today. Yet, Troy faces new challenges today that are both common to small towns across our nation and unique to Troy alone. In time, I hope to become a valuable member of the Troy community, to be someone you will see as ‘your’ reporter, but until then, I intend to work to earn your trust and tell your story to the best of my ability.”

The addition of Kibbey to the newsroom frees up Editor John Blodgett to more fully report on Libby city and Lincoln County government, public safety, economic and community development, schools and special projects.

Kibbey said he’s eager to get to know people throughout the newspaper’s coverage area, learning about “what gets them out of bed in the morning, and what let’s them sleep peacefully — or keeps them up — at night.”

“I look forward to the day I walk into a store or meeting and people greet me with a smile, knowing I’m there to give their story the fairest reading I can,” he said. “I believe in people, in their incredible ability to strike through hard times and celebrate small victories, to love each other thanklessly and give of themselves endlessly. I want to find those stories, with which we are all constantly surrounded, and shine a light on them.”

An experienced volunteer firefighter, Kibbey said once he settles in he hopes to continue serving his community in that way as well.