Iowa State Capitol was constructed in 1886 and remains a popular tourist attraction today with its golden-leafed central dome and four smaller domes covered by gold leafing. Furthermore, this unique state capitol features theater and museum facilities within its walls – something only two state capitols can claim!
Iowa Capital Dispatch offers fair and impartial reporting on state government, politics, and national policy that affects Iowans. AllSides rates them a media bias rating of Center.
About Us
Iowa Capital Dispatch is a provocative news organization that connects Iowans to their government and how its actions affect them. Their mission is to fight for public access to information by using investigative journalism, deep dives into policy’s consequences, and moral commentary with political insight – while guaranteeing editorial independence via membership in States Newsroom’s national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants as well as their community of readers and donors.
Report for America recently named Iowa Capital Dispatch as one of two new host newsroom partners as part of their national service program that places talented emerging journalists into local newsrooms to cover under-covered communities and topics across the United States. Iowa Capital Dispatch will hire a corps member to investigate state university dilemmas and how higher education policy can impact Iowan’s lives as part of this new partnership.
Brooklyn Draisey will join our corps as an upcoming corps member this summer and focus on how government policies impact postsecondary institutions. She brings experience from several Iowa newspapers, such as Quad-City Times and Cedar Rapids Gazette.
Editor Kathie Obradovich
Kathie Obradovich has covered Iowa politics and government for more than three decades. Her work has earned national awards for statehouse reporting and Register political column writing. Additionally, Kathie frequently appears as a guest on state, federal, and international news programs, teaching journalism at Iowa State University and as a lecturer within the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication.
Iowa Capitol Press Association is dismayed that Governor Kim Reynolds and Republican leaders in the Iowa statehouse declined invitations to our annual legislative preview forum, signaling a troubling trend of elected officials being less accessible to journalists who monitor their work for all Iowans.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle have advocated for changes eroding trust in our democracy, such as reining in “rogue” county election officials, tightening absentee ballot rules, and reviewing recount processes. Yet such efforts won’t suffice in rebuilding it when political demagogues can declare that our system is flawed.
Over the past week, Iowa and nationwide politics have been gripped by news about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s leaked draft opinion on Roe vs. Wade. Multiple reporters at Iowa Capital Dispatch have closely been covering this story, and we invited them to share their knowledge and discuss this matter with us.
Deputy Editor Clark Kauffman
The Iowa Capital Dispatch is Iowa’s leading independent news source, covering politics and policy from Iowa’s capital city of Des Moines. Dispatch editorials lean heavily toward liberal positions while its op-ed pieces tend to fall more evenly across ideological lines.
The newspaper’s website features news and information on Iowa politics, such as legislative activity, an events calendar, and a directory of state agencies and departments. Updated frequently for easy navigation.
Iowans on this podcast discussed topics and issues impacting Iowa, such as college health assessments, vaping, severe drought impact analysis, and fair and uncompromising journalism in Iowa politics. Guests also discussed the need for equal coverage by journalists across Iowa’s political scene.
The Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and donors/readers. AllSides’ bias rating of the Iowa Capital Dispatch is Center, not meaning it is necessarily neutral, reasonable, or credible – these ratings do not indicate better or worse content; left and right mean more extreme versions; allSides is committed to providing balanced, fact-based coverage of political news and controversy.
Senior Reporter Jared Strong
Iowa City, the state capital, offers numerous historic sites and landmarks, such as its State Capitol building, whose 275-foot gold-leafed dome stands above the cityscape. Inside are the governor’s office, legislature chambers, old Supreme Court Chambers, and one of only two states featuring five crowns; visitors may tour these beautiful rooms of history.
Des Moines is an economic hub, hosting many financial and insurance services companies such as Wells Fargo, Voya Financial, and EDS. Furthermore, Des Moines is home to various large publishing and marketing firms, including Meredith Corporation’s Better Homes & Gardens magazine publication and several others.
Sports-minded visitors will find that Des Moines provides an ideal setting to experience professional minor league teams across baseball, hockey, indoor football, and soccer. Drake University’s athletic program competes in NCAA Division I. Furthermore, Blank Park Zoo features exhibits such as tropical rainforest habitats, Australian Outback environments, and Africa as part of its 22-acre landscaped zoological park.
Jared spends his leisure time surfing and playing sports. A former water polo player who competed in Division-1 college sports, Jared believes his time as an athlete helped develop many critical professional skills he utilizes today.
The Iowa Capital Dispatch is a news website covering politics and policy in Iowa. The Iowa Capitol Dispatch provides original reporting from state legislature proceedings and how national policies affect Iowans. Articles promote liberal perspectives using moderately loaded language, while its AllSides media bias rating remains neutral.
Freelance Reporter Andrew Kennard
Andrew Kennard contributes freelance pieces for Iowa Capital Dispatch and Wisconsin Examiner newspapers and Drake University’s student newspaper, Times-Delphic. Kennard interned at Native News Online before enrolling at Drake. Kennard covers Iowa state politics and how national policies impact Iowans – providing fair but challenging coverage, usually through moderately loaded language that pushes back against corruption, the environment or criminal justice issues – leading AllSides to assign him a bias rating of Center. Click to learn more. Feedback matters! It helps us better serve you. Click to see more! Feedback matters greatly! AllSides assigns him a media bias rating of Center, and click to see more! Click now! Your feedback matters! It helps us provide better service! Click to give us your opinions. Click to give us your valuable insight! AllSides assigns you ratings that will allow us to serve you better – click to provide us with your voice! Click to provide us with your input! We welcome your ideas & requests & requests help us better. Click to provide us with your voice & let’s hear it, so please send in any Feedback directly back & let us hear it helps us better provide service! Click to share Your voice; Give feedback. It helps us serve better! Click to help improve service with us better service! Click! Thank You! Please provide valuable input about any feedback! Feedback matters, and we welcome it positively so please see more clicks to help us improve our services! Thank you all. Sides assign him a Center rating here (click to give feedback, too ). Click! Click to send it! It helps improve. Thank You. Thank You from here at AllSides for your voice by sharing! We value hearing back here to give it. Click to improve! We look forward to you better. Thank you for helping us improve ourselves better by providing feedback! Click to share your voice. Your feedback! We need it to help improve! This feedback, so click to make us! We listen… Click! Click! Click your input here, so don’t! We value feedback, so don’t. Click us your! AllSides Rating Center, so please. Thanks. Click… click below as allSIDEASUS: thank YOU…! Thank you… Thank YOU…! Thank YOU. Click! to give…! Now!!. We listen. Thanks, us with… Thanks. This allows us. Click! Thank YOU… Thank YOU!! Please tell the US…! Thanks…Thank You so that way so we can improve. AllSsides rating this year, so thank YOU… Click now! This gives all Sides ratings here. Click for help improve more… Click. This feedback matters……. Click! Thank us so much!! We always welcome ALL… AllSides ratings below to………..Thank all your Feedback matters!! We take more… Thanks much. Our Feedback Matters… Thank YOU!!… Click!… Click…! Thank you!! Click! Thank us. Click, but so………….. Thank YOU so very much… Click to give so…!!! Thank!!!!…….. Click…………. Thanks… Click now!! – Let us so much, too!! Thanks for seeing….. Thanks, too…! This way! Click now… Click now…Thank you…………………. Thanks…………..! So thanks……………………! Thank YOU!! We need Your feedback to help improve….. Thank YOU!!!…………. Thanks…!!………..!!!!………..! This lets’….! *
