O’Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West Oral History Project
Interviewer
Michael Larmann
Files
Description
Shellie Nelson discusses her work as the editor of the O’Connor Center’s newsletter Headwaters News (later renamed Mountain West News) from 2003 to 2016. She explains how her upbringing on a cattle ranch in the Sandhills of Nebraska sparked her interests in water law and journalism. After earning her paralegal degree, Nelson moved to Missoula and enrolled at the University of Montana’s School of Journalism. Nelson then explains how she worked under Greg Lakes as the assistant editor before becoming the head editor herself in 2003. Nelson describes her responsibilities in publishing the newsletter and how the publication influenced people’s thinking about the West. She also discusses how transformations in online journalism, specifically paywalls, made news aggregator websites such as Headwaters News (Mountain West News) increasingly more challenging to operate.
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Document Type
Oral History
Original Date
4-30-2025
Time Period
Twentieth century; Twenty-first century
Geographic Coverage
Montana
Language
eng
Original Collection
O’Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West Oral History Project, OH 489, Archives & Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, University of Montana
Digital Publisher
University of Montana--Missoula. Mansfield Library
Rights
Copyright to this collection is held by the interview participants and by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula. Permission may be required for use. For further information please contact Archives and Special Collections: (406) 243-2053 / library.archives@umontana.edu
Oral History Number
OH 489-008
Media Type
Sound; Text
Original Format
audio/mp3; application/pdf
Digital Format
audio/mp3; application/pdf
Run Time
00:50:03 minutes
Local Filename
OH_489_008_audio_use.mp3; OH_489.008_transcript.pdf
Citation
Nelson, Shellie, "Shellie Nelson Interview, April 30, 2025" (2025). O’Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West Oral History Project. 8.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/oconnorcenter_interviews/8