Nonprofit Journalism
WyoFile
Since its beginning in 2008, the nonprofit public interest news site WyoFile.com has become an important source of serious in-depth reporting for and about Wyoming. WyoFile stories have been republished in more than 50 newspapers. A co-founder with internet entrepreneur Christopher Findlater, Rone served as WyoFile's first long-term editor and continues to contribute occasional investigative stories and features. His most ambitious investigative work, the story of fraudulent power plant developer Michael J. Ruffatto, resulted in an 18th month prison term for Mr. Ruffatto. See "Two Elk: The Story Behind the Story." A recent piece was a long profile of former Wyoming Catholic College President Kevin Roberts who now heads the powerful Heritage Foundation in Washington. “Wyoming’s ‘Cowboy Catholic’ could remake government if Trump wins”
The Utah Investigative Journalism Project
Rone joined the board of the nonprofit Utah Investigative Journalism Project in 2018 after moving to Salt Lake City from Wyoming. The young news organization under its founding reporter-editor Eric Peterson has produced a great number of important investigative news stories for state newspapers as well as conducting training sessions for newspaper staff and journalism students. In addition to his work on the nonprofit board, Rone is also an occasional contributor, most notably his reports on inmate torture at the Daggett County County Jail "Scared All the Time" that resulted in a state settlement with the abused inmates.
ProPublica
ProPublica.Org is the nation's leading nonprofit news organization and winner of multiple Pulitzer Prizes for its outstanding investigative journalism, often in partnership with newspapers and other media. In 2007, Rone was hired by ProPublica.org founding editor-in-chief Paul Steiger --with whom he had worked at the Los Angeles Times-- as a regional consultant based in Wyoming. From 2008-2011, Rone collaborated with ProPublica reporters on several projects including a story about a failed $100 million coal gasification scheme.