My name is David Purdy, and I started Five Mountains in response to local newsroom needs for help with niche digital projects and strategies.

Byline.net is the answer to local newsrooms that need the full power and customizability of WordPress, hosted on technology tailored for local news.

Our technology

We work with an experienced technology vendor with many years of experience hosting some of the most challenging WordPress sites on the internet. By buying their service “wholesale” we can offer their tech stack and expertise to smaller news organizations in combination with our digital services consulting and custom development.

We can support nearly any server or VPS provider (we have some favorites we can steer you towards, but can work with your specific needs as well).

Transparent ownership and aligned incentives

Over a decade plus of working in journalism, first in a small public media newsroom in Alaska and then working with local news organizations across the country, I saw a need for something different in WordPress hosting.

The traditional choice is between generic WordPress hosting and turnkey, all-in-one news platform based on WordPress. While there are companies doing great work in both these areas, I saw a need for straightforward hosting designed specifically for news, but without restrictions on plugins or customization.

I started Byline.net to apply what I’ve learned about WordPress hosting for local newsrooms without having to go through a private equity backed giant or squeeze a customized site into the wrong sized box.

Five Mountains, the consultancy I founded that’s behind Byline.net, is a privately-held Washington-state based LLC without outside investors, on a mission to support quality journalism and local media with a sustainable business model.