Montana
Mental health crisis in Montana: A conversation with the editor – Daily Montanan
Mental health isn’t an unfamiliar topic in Montana.
For years, the Treasure State has been at the top of lists for states with the most severe suicide rates.
Even under the best circumstances, mental health care providers are limited, if not scarce. And, a host of factors make mental health a difficult, persistent problem.
This year, journalism students at the University of Montana School of Journalism tackled the multi-faceted challenges of mental health under the Big Sky. The Daily Montanan, in collaboration with the students, will be publishing a series of articles from the students’ publication, Byline magazine, every Sunday through March, in an effort to highlight the important work of the journalists and the timely topic of mental health in Montana.
Daily Montanan editor Darrell Ehrlick sat down with Byline editor-in-chief McKenna Johnson for an interview about the reporting challenges and findings the team discovered while working intensively on the subject.
Please note this interview has been edited for length and clarity:
Daily Montanan: Tell me a little bit about the genesis. Where did you get the idea for this particular topic?
McKenna Johnson: I’m not entirely sure who came up with that idea. We ended up settling on mental health in Montana, specifically we wanted to focus on just stories in Montana. And we had thought, ‘You know, we could go broad; we could go more specific,’ but I think this is what is going to serve our audience best if we focus on mental health in Montana. We wanted to focus on stories that we didn’t see as much.
DM: Did it take a lot of convincing the staff that this was a good topic, or was there a hunger for this topic? Because it’s sometimes a tough topic to report and cover.
Johnson: I don’t think it took much convincing at all. I think if there were any people who weren’t super convinced they didn’t show it, or it was really easy to find different niches within that topic. I think once people got into the process, they realized there are so many different ways you can go with this topic. There’s so much that we mentioned that we talked about that we didn’t get to put in the final magazine, and I think that’s really a testament to just how how eager everyone was to dive into these stories. Kind of the hard part was really picking and choosing where to focus our attention. You know, we have a classroom situation. We only have a semester. We had so much interest in so many specific topics to choose from within the realm of mental health and I think part of that, too, is our generation specifically. I think the conversations we’re having around mental health are becoming a little bit more free flowing, and people want to talk about these stories. And some of it was we maybe thought there was a story that was done on a topic that we thought was done really well and we wanted to dive deeper into it. And then there were stories that maybe we didn’t see published and so we wanted to go write those ourselves. You’re right: It can be a really hard topic to talk about. And so we decided we were going to break it down a little bit, have that experience of reporting on something hard that makes sense.
DM: It’s interesting to me that you would choose that topic because to me that’s a really hard topic. It can be nuanced. It’s not exactly always an uplifting topic. I mean, the first story you did was on isolation and suicide. Did you have any hesitation as the editor or did the staff have hesitation about covering a topic that, I think as you mentioned it in your column, has a taboo surrounding it?
Johnson: We had a lot of conversations on getting kind of the whole picture on mental health. This was the state of mental health in Montana. Like you said, that first story by a reporter was about isolation and suicide and all of the factors that you know, make Montana kind of a unique situation in that regard. We wanted to do those hard stories, but I think we talked a lot about balancing out with, like, for example, in the print edition right after that story is a little bit of a lighter piece about crisis line workers and one of the callers. We talk about what works for a crisis line and talk about methods that people are doing to uplift — maybe that wasn’t quite the right word — but like, combat some of the harder stuff with mental health. So we wanted that to be representative in our coverage.
DM: What were you most surprised to learn about mental health in Montana?
Johnson: One of the facts that I was most surprised to learn in this came from a guest speaker that we had come into the class while we were kind of early on in our pitching stage of the magazine. It came in from NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Health, which talked about in Montana, how two of the most at-risk groups for mental health challenges are Indigenous men and then kind of middle-aged, most often, white ranchers. And so that was that was one of the statistics that kind of sparked that first story about what are all of these factors that go into mental health in Montana? Those are two demographics that you might not know.
DM: So after doing this and really studying the issue intensively, what do you think you can say definitively about mental health in Montana as it currently is?
Johnson: I think there’s always something we can do to provide more resources, more open conversations and reaching out to communities who don’t have those resources. People in general, they’re just so resilient. And you know, I think I mentioned it to in my editor’s column: Everyone can be susceptible to mental health challenges. We should have and be able to have these open conversations about it, while also recognizing like how hard it is to deal with it. I think that was something that just from multiple sources in every story that kind of shines through is just the resiliency of people, especially here in Montana.
DM: Is there something about Montana that makes this series of stories different than what they would be in other states?
Johnson: We tried to choose stories that were very specific to people in Montana, and some of the stories might be a little bit more broad, but specific to a Montana angle. I think in some ways, yes. And in some ways, no, because I think Montana is such a special place. We have the great outdoors, and then with that comes some of the struggles. We keep coming back to isolation, for example, that you might not get if you’re going to do a mental health magazine in a state like New York.
DM: Was there anything the staff really wrestled with when it came to covering a particular topic or aspect of mental health in Montana?
Johnson: I think one thing that we wrestled with was we didn’t want to have the whole magazine be like: Oh my gosh, the state of mental health in Montana is horrible. And it’s never gonna get like we want it to be And one of the things that we kind of realized going into it is that not every story, but a couple of the stories, tended to center on suicide. We kind of wrestled with whether that is gonna be like a deterrent for some people because it is such a hard topic to cover and report. And we also really recognized it’s a hard topic to read about, too. Some of the stories maybe didn’t set out to be about something like that, but that’s where the source landed. And that’s where the stories ended up going. And so we wanted it to be honest.
DM: How did you overcome the kind of idea that talking about suicide, or mental health might be damaging to an audience? You know, there’s always been that, ‘If you mention it, it might happen?’ Or you might you might be giving suicide or mental health too much attention.
Johnson: I don’t think we spent too much time worrying about it because we had made the decision that we were going to tackle some of those hard topics. We brought in a couple of guest speakers. And we looked at how do you cover these while being sensitive? We sat down a lot with reporters and the faculty advisors when we were looking at some of those suicide stories. We really looked at, are we covering these in a sensitive way? Are we being respectful to the sources? Are we doing this in a way that is going to reduce harm and also tell the truth? I feel like we talked about a lot of that in journalism school, and so we knew we wanted to cover those topics. And so we didn’t necessarily shy away from them. It was more of a question of: OK, how do you do this right?
DM: So, I mean, you you asked the question: How do you do it right?
Johnson: I mean, it’s hard. I don’t know if I have have a wonderful answer. And, you know, I still wake up and think about it sometimes. I really think it comes down to reading it and thinking, ‘OK, if I was the source, how would I take it, reading this, or if I was someone coming at this like from a completely blank slate? How would I read this, and thinking about it from different angles, and really having having empathy in your reporting — we talked about that a lot, too. So it’s hard and I don’t have an easy answer.
DM: How did you make sure that you were taking care of the staff’s mental health because reporting on mental health can be a challenge to your mental health?
Johnson: For me as a leader, I tried to check in with people and tried to have open lines of communication. I think one thing we tried to convey to our staff is like, ‘You guys, we are people first, this is really hard to report on mental health.’ We brought in right at the beginning some guest speakers who had covered very mentally taxing topics, and they talked about their coping mechanisms and, and things like that, that we can use. We tried to have some open dialogue, open conversation about it, and recognize that this is gonna be a really hard thing we’re doing. Also, we were like, it’s fine not to be fine all the time, if that makes sense.
DM: Let’s talk for a moment about if you could have a magic wand or you could be a policy director, high up in the state, what would your recommendations be to improve mental health in Montana?
Johnson: One of the things is the Mental Health Commission (being led by Rep. Bob Keenan), being very aware of the power of this commission and using it correctly. I really think another thing that is talked about is mental health in Montana is something that a lot of people struggle with, it’s just a stigma. And I think anything that people can do, to just bring about open conversations and try to decrease that level of stigma that people have is one thing that people can do to make the situation better because it’s really hard to offer resources and help people without breaking down that stigma.
DM: Did you find that it was as much of a stigma as you thought? In other words, was it hard to get people to share their stories?
Johnson: Depending on the story, some of them were a little bit harder. Some needed a little bit more time and being patient and letting people be comfortable with the idea of opening up. I think what a lot of people found is a lot of people want to talk about their story, right? And so when somebody comes and says: We want to hear your story, we want to tell it, what what can we do to help tell your story? I think people in general found that people were very open to talking about your story, and it can be hard sometimes to ask, especially when you’re talking about such a tough atopic, but I think sometimes we can, as reporters, get in our own head and believe they might not want to talk about it, but I think in our experience, people were very open to sharing their stories.
DM: What has been the reaction of people who have read the magazine?
Johnson: It’s still pretty fresh out there. But so far, it’s been pretty positive.
DM: So what do you hope for this publication? What do you hope people take from it?
Johnson: If we can bring a little bit of understanding of the state of mental health in Montana. If this magazine reaches someone who maybe is struggling but doesn’t have the resources or you know, the knowledge to maybe recognize they’re struggling or or reach out and talk. They might see story like this and maybe resonate with someone in the magazine and maybe that will help them in their situation. Or maybe they’ll give it to someone who will relate to it or get them someone to read and go, ‘Oh, I’m not alone in that situation.’ Like I said, there were so many things that we didn’t get to cover. But if we can bring a story to someone that might make them think a little bit more about mental health and how they think about mental health and how it plays a role in their lives, maybe they’ll want to read even more about it and educate themselves even more.
DM: Do you think just having the conversations, being out there having a publication, having photographers, having editors, having people research it, do you think that is beneficial in and of itself?
Johnson: It’s very beneficial having those conversations, I think, but coming back to stigma, hopefully this magazine we’re putting out does, just even if it’s just a little bit, chip away at that stigma. At least it’s something people can go to that will hopefully inspire people to have have conversations
DM: Do you think it is becoming easier for us to talk about mental health, mental illness?
Johnson: I think it’s definitely becoming easier. I definitely don’t think the work is totally done, and I don’t know if it will ever be done. I think it’s becoming easier to report and just easier to talk about. In general even, not in a journalistic sense, if I’m just talking with my friends. Especially after doing doing a project like this, I feel a lot more comfortable talking to people about mental health than I did when I started. Even if when I when I started this at the beginning of the semester I thought I felt really comfortable. Now, on the other side of it, I’m like, Oh my gosh, I feel so much more comfortable talking about mental health to people than I did before.
Montana
Montana State doctoral student awarded national research service grant for gut microbiome, arsenic research
MISSOULA — Four out of five members of Montana’s Public Service Commission were in a federal courtroom in Missoula Thursday morning, as the PSC’s former president challenges the disciplinary action taken against him earlier this year. Now, newly released documents are shedding more light on to what led up to this point.
(Watch the video for a closer look at the case.)
New documents shed light Montana PSC dispute
Commissioner Brad Molnar has sued President Jeff Welborn, Vice President Jennifer Fielder and Commissioner Annie Bukacek – the three PSC members who voted in May to require him to work remotely, after an investigation into complaints about his workplace conduct. Molnar has claimed he is being unfairly punished for constitutionally protected speech, and he asked Senior U.S District Judge Donald Molloy to allow him to return to the PSC offices.
Matthew Monforton, Molnar’s attorney, told the judge that barring Molnar from the building was limiting his ability to do his job.
“He has not been officially kicked out of office, but his voice has clearly been diminished,” said Monforton.
But Natasha Jones, an attorney representing the other three commissioners, said the findings were about behavior, not just speech, and that the PSC’s action was a reasonable response.
“These are serious concerns about a pattern of conduct that has made employees quit,” she said.
Jonathon Ambarian
On Tuesday, Molloy ordered the release of redacted versions of two full investigative reports into Molnar’s conduct – more than 100 pages of documents. Monforton had moved for the full reports to be made public, and Molloy ruled attorneys for the other PSC members hadn’t shown a compelling reason to keep the documents under seal as long as the names of people involved in the investigation were obscured.
While the names remained redacted in the investigation reports, the attorneys for Welborn, Fielder and Bukacek also filed additional documents – including a public declaration from Bukacek and from former PSC executive director Alana Lake, providing information about their allegations against Molnar.
The two reports, from an outside investigator, cover Molnar’s alleged actions over two periods: the first from February to August 2025, and the second from August to October 2025. The investigation began after the first formal complaint, filed by Bukacek in May 2025 – though the reports say employees had been bringing up concerns about Molnar’s behavior informally for several months prior.
Bukacek’s complaint claimed Molnar had repeatedly made what she called “sexualized and demeaning comments.” The examples she cited included saying the PSC should replace “Taco Tuesdays” with “Topless Tuesdays,” reminiscing about watching girls in bikinis as a teenager, and commenting about the beauty of women in areas of China who didn’t get “old and wrinkly.”
In her declaration, Bukacek also claimed Molnar had “maliciously disseminated false information” about her and “engaged in behavior that was dismissive, derisive and otherwise abusive.”
“My primary concern now is not for my safety nor my feelings, but for the rest of the staff who may not have the temperament to speak up or may feel too intimidated to speak up given concerns over job security,” Bukacek said in her declaration.
MTN News
The investigators determined Molnar had violated the PSC’s code of conduct by making comments of a sexual nature, and that it appeared his behavior had continued for some time after he was warned about it. They also found he had behaved unprofessionally and in a belittling manner toward Bukacek, though they said Bukacek herself had at times used “language that could be considered inappropriate” in emails to staff or other commissioners. Bukacek told MTN she “readily self corrected” any behaviors that were brought to her attention.
The investigation also found a violation in connection with a complaint from a PSC staff member, who said he “felt bullied” by Molnar when the commissioner sent an email complaining about his team not being “people with competence.”
However, much of the first report and the entire second report was focused on conduct after the initial complaints, when Molnar was accused of retaliating against people who participated in the investigation. Lake said in her declaration that she saw “an immediate and significant change in his behavior toward staff involved in the process.” She claimed he said he would use an attorney and private investigator to go after people who filed complaints, and she accused him of publicly criticizing her in interviews and removing her job responsibilities because of her handling of the investigation.
Lake said Molnar’s actions led to “declining morale within the agency,” undermined staff members’ ability to do their jobs and damaged her reputation. She said that led her to resign as executive director.
“I believe no employee should be forced to choose between reporting misconduct and protecting their career, reputation, or personal well-being,” she said in her declaration.
Lake has since become Helena city manager.
Jonathon Ambarian
The report said there was evidence to show Molnar had retaliated, including by “making disparaging statements about investigation participants” including Lake, by sending an email warning he could file complaints of his own against people involved, and by taking other actions investigators said could dissuade employees from reporting behavior in the future.
Monforton said during Thursday’s hearing that the initial comments Bukacek complained about were jokes Molnar had admitted were inappropriate, that he regretted saying them, and that he hasn’t made any similar comments in about a year. But he argued the vast majority of the findings against Molnar were about retaliation – and that those were primarily based on speech that the other commissioners don’t have the right to interfere with.
Monforton said it’s unreasonable to punish Molnar for what he said in the July news conference where he announced he was under investigation, in interviews with the media or in commission meetings. He said Molnar’s conduct doesn’t rise to the level of actual retaliation.
“This is an elected official, engaging in speech in his forum,” Monforton said.
He said Molnar may have made harsh comments toward staff, but that he had the right to raise objections about the way the agency does business.
Jonathon Ambarian
Monforton also argued the retaliation claims no longer justify keeping Molnar out of the office, since Welborn, Fielder and Bukacek voted to remove him as president in October and he no longer has the authority he’s accused of misusing. He said there haven’t been further complaints about his behavior since that time.
“We’re not asking for the moon and stars, we’re asking for the status quo as it existed for the last seven months,” he said.
Jones said there is enough evidence to show Molnar would have been punished regardless of whether any protected speech was excluded.
“This is not about a couple of jokes,” she said.
Jones said Molnar made maliciously false statements about people like Lake, and that type of statement isn’t covered by free speech protections.
She also said Molnar’s exclusion from the PSC offices is temporary, and that the PSC will reconsider whether to let him return if he apologizes for his actions, accepts the agency’s code of conduct and undergoes training.
Molloy indicated he saw indications that there was “acrimony” on both sides of the situation, and said he was skeptical it would be resolved easily.
“It would be nice if instead of juvenile behavior, there was professional behavior,” he said.
However, the judge said there was an avenue for Molnar to pursue if he wanted to reach a resolution.
Molloy took no immediate action Thursday. He told the parties he would rule as quickly as he could.
-
New York4 minutes agoVideo: Fans Show Up to the Parade in Their Best Knicks-Themed Attire
-
Los Angeles, Ca11 minutes agoVictims sought after man allegedly points gun at passing cars in Santa Clarita Valley
-
Detroit, MI34 minutes agoBest barbershop in Metro Detroit: Finalists for this year’s Vote 4 The Best
-
San Francisco, CA44 minutes agoHow to watch San Francisco Giants vs. Miami Marlins
-
Dallas, TX49 minutes agoDrivers in North Texas struggle with Friday floods
-
Miami, FL56 minutes agoThree wildfires burn more than 20,000 acres in Miami-Dade, force road closures
-
Boston, MA59 minutes agoMBTA, state transportation chief apologizes for ‘insensitive’ employee hair-pulling incident
-
Denver, CO1 hour agoMan arrested on suspicion of murder in Denver shooting near South Park Hill, Hale
