At Flatwater Free Press we’re helping to build journalism in Nebraska.
We’re also attempting to practice journalism a little bit differently. How? Well, let me shout out two examples from this week to illustrate.
Journalism on stage: Too often in American journalism, dogged journalists uncover a real problem in society, do a fantastic job reporting the heck out of it…and then vanish.
We’re going to try to stick around after a hard-hitting story. And, whenever possible, we’re going to convene events where the public can have their say — events that push the understanding of that story forward. Our executive director Matt Wynn likes to call this “journalism on stage.” (The man does occasionally have a good idea.)
Such it was recently, after we published a story about how a gigantic national company is buying up hundreds of homes in Omaha.
FFP co-sponsored an event held at 24th and Lake, in the heart of North Omaha, the area most affected by the company’s real estate purchases. Concerned residents crammed into the the event space until every chair and every inch of standing room was taken. Matt sat on the panel. One of our new summer interns, Emma, reported on the event. Another of our interns, Jazari, photographed it. You can see the story and photos here.
We think this is an important story, and we’ll continue to push it forward. We’ll also continue to hold or co-host events like this to talk to, and listen to, the people most affected. Thank you to Spark CDI for co-hosting, Fabric Lab for the venue and Preston Love Jr. for serving as the panel moderator. And thank you so much to all of you who showed up and made your voices heard.
Speaking of listening: Mr. Wynn and myself and occasionally one of our reporters try to do a listening tour in a different Nebraska town each and every month. We get in a car, spend a day meeting with every organization or person who wants to speak to us, spend the night, drive home. Revolutionary, it is not. But we’re finding our Nebraska listening tour so very valuable.
Without fail, we meet interesting people. We listen to their concerns — often concerns we would miss from our Omaha office. And we hear about interesting stories. In Nebraska City, we got several great story ideas. And you can read one of them, photographed and reported by new freelancer Liz McCue, here. It’s a story about the coolest 2022 prom you haven’t heard about, until now.
We’re planning listening tour events in Hastings, Red Cloud and Scottsbluff this summer. If you are a subscriber to this newsletter from one of those areas, we’ll for sure shoot you a message beforehand to let you know about the FFP event coming to your hometown.
Listen: Neither “journalism on stage” or a listening tour are groundbreaking ideas. Media outlets have been doing similar for decades. But they are important ideas. And we’re glad to be doing both as we help write the newest chapter in Nebraska journalism.
Show us your shirts!: Okay, that sounds vaguely dirty. It’s not… Instead, it’s a new thing we’re doing that will culminate in a special way to celebrate Independence Day on the 4th of July this year.
Hundreds of you have bought FFP t-shirts, mugs or tote bags or received one because you have become a new monthly donor. Thank you so much!
Now here’s my ask: Send me a photo of you in your shirt or drinking coffee from your mug or carrying your stylish tote. And send me a sentence or paragraph about why you decided to support journalism in 2022.
We’re going to use your photos and your words to celebrate Freedom of the Press, and that amendment to the U.S. Constitution that was so important to America’s founders that they made it the first one.
Send your submissions by hitting reply to this newsletter or by emailing me at [email protected].
This is gonna be better than fireworks, if you ask me.
See you next week,
Matthew Hansen, Executive Editor
Here’s what we’re into this week: News from around Nebraska
Every week we like to share great Nebraska journalism, no matter who made it. Here’s what caught our eye this week:
- Omaha World-Herald reporter Nancy Gaarder succinctly captured the lack of answers — and the frustration that many Omahans feel — when she covered a public meeting on the chemical fire that burned in South Omaha this week.
- Nebraska’s elected representatives are reacting — or not — to the latest spasm of mass shootings and gun violence in the U.S. Joe Jordan of News Channel Nebraska on that story.
- And here’s Nebraska Examiner’s Aaron Sanderford, reporting on Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Pillen’s stance on guns.
