Too often, journalism can feel antiseptic and disconnected from our own lives. Far away.
At Flatwater we work to make our journalism local, Nebraskan. We’re forever striving to connect you to stories, make them real and relevant to our lives here.
Which is why I’m happy to point out that two of our stories this week took on big and scary issues while bringing them to you in a way that I think pulls you toward the story — invites you in — rather than pushes you away.
Mental health is the sort of topic that everyone realizes is important, but also one that can be hard to read about for all sorts of reasons. This week, Chris Bowling told the story of one Nebraska family who has struggled mightily over the years — and is now helping thousands of people by building a grassroots network that’s letting people talk, listen, connect.
It’s a really important story. It’s also a gratifying one to read.
And FFP reporter Destiny Herbers took on a story that could have felt oh-so distant…it begins in the 19th century! But she brings that story alive — shows us why we should care — by introducing us to Edward and Samuel, two northeast Nebraska kids, Winnebago kids, who long ago got put on a train and never saw their homes again.
It’s a story about a lawsuit, and the 2024 fight to bring Edward and Samuel home. It’s a story about Samuel and Edward themselves. How they lived, died and are being treated in death.
These stories won’t win a Pulitzer Prize. But they are proof of our desire to tackle big, important stuff in this state we call home, and do it through the eyes and faces of real-life Nebraskans. People whom I hope you feel like you know after you read about them in FFP.
Our day in court: On Thursday, the Flatwater Free Press appeared before the Nebraska Supreme Court, as we continue to fight for our right — and yours — to see how state officials were dealing or not dealing with the state’s growing nitrate-in-drinking water problem.
I’m including a couple links here, as I think these stories from the Lincoln Journal Star’s Lori Pilger, WOWT’s Brian Mastre and Courthouse News’ Andrew Nelson do a good, fair-minded job of capturing the arguments.
Let me just add one thing, because I’m writing this newsletter and can. It was wild to sit in the back of the courtroom yesterday and listen to the state portray our straightforward requests for important info tied to the health of your drinking water— information that should, by law, be available to the public — as somehow extreme or abusive.
Malarkey.
One of the parties in this lawsuit acted professionally while operating in a manner consistent with how generations of respected Nebraska journalists have long fought for and received public records. The other party in this lawsuit tried to charge a gobsmacking $44,000 for public emails written by public officials being paid by public dollars and tasked with a serious public health concern — keeping the water in your faucets clean and safe.
We requested these emails two years ago now. We have spent considerable time, money and energy fighting for them, while the state has spent considerable time, taxpayer money and energy trying to keep them hidden. A basic reading of the law suggests they have broken the law while doing so.
I think it’s fair, as a Nebraskan, to ask why the state is working so hard to keep them away from our eyes, and yours. I sincerely hope the Nebraska Supreme Court follows the law, upholds it and protects this fundamental right of Nebraskans.
Not your usual Super Bowl story: In today’s FFP, we didn’t focus on the players on the field. Rather, the dancers on the sideline are the stars of today’s tale by freelancer Brady Oltmans. Two Nebraskans have fought and clawed their way to the very top of the NFL’s cheerleading hierarchy, becoming captains of the Dallas Cowboys’ iconic squad.
Now they are working to inspire the next generation of Nebraska dancers and cheerleaders.
Thanks to our sponsor: Today it’s Swoon Home + Design, the small, family-owned business with the oh-so-sexy kitchen remodel photo down at the bottom of this email.
Jenny Wilkins is a Realtor, contractor and designer who launched SWOON a few years ago with the lessons she learned from her own homebuilding process. Her philosophy is that you should enjoy the final product of your home’s redesign … and also the process to get there.
Check out the sponsorship photo and link to SWOON’s site. My deep gratitude to Jenny and Ryan Wilkins for sponsoring this newsletter and supporting the important work of Nebraska nonprofit journalism.
Questions wanted: Some of our best story ideas come from readers, and they typically start with a burning question that just cries out for an answer. Have a question that our reporters need to look into? Complete this form or reach our newsroom at [email protected].
Sincerely,
—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:
- When Henry Cordes writes a story for the Omaha World-Herald, it’s generally going in this newsletter, because it’s an important one.
This week’s is no exception. Henry told the story of Howard Buffett, a son of Warren, who has sunk an incredible amount of his fortune into providing humanitarian aid in Ukraine. So much, in fact, that he’s giving more aid to Ukraine than a whole bunch of big, important countries. - Who is to blame for the state’s chronically overcrowded prisons? The Nebraska Legislature, says a new report. Story by the Lincoln Journal Star’s Andrew Wegley.
- Scary one out of Scottsbluff. The local TV station there went dark this week, ending, at least for now, the jobs of a few local news reporters and a longtime, well-known local sports guy. As of right now, the residents of the Panhandle are receiving local TV news from … Wyoming. Story by KNEB and Nebraska Rural Radio.
Soapbox time: Protecting locally produced news is one of many reasons the existence and building of Flatwater Free Press and other nonprofit news outlets is so crucial. There simply need to be more Nebraska reporters in every corner of this state, not fewer. - Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley says his office caught a cool $685 mil in accounting errors made by state agencies this past year. Eyebrow raising story by KETV’s Aaron Hegarty.
- A bill in the Nebraska Legislature, one being advocated for by Gov. Jim Pillen, is seeking to streamline the process of building a new feedlot, pig farm or other confined animal feeding operation. The bill, if it becomes law, may make it harder for local residents to stop the construction of these confined animal operations. Story by the Nebraska Examiner’s Paul Hammel.
- Nebraska child care continues to be in big trouble, for all sorts of reasons. (I can practically see the parents of young children nodding their heads feverishly.) The latest example: Ravenna’s only child care operation is closed after reported violations. NTV’s Schady Fergeson with the story.
- An interesting story about the push-and-pull of building carbon capture pipelines in the Midwest. Story by St. Louis Public Radio’s Eric Schmid, published here in Nebraska Public Media.
- We’re gonna keep springing forward in the spring and falling back in the fall, at least for another year. The story on another failed attempt to go to all-year-round daylight saving time or standard time, by NPM’s Fred Knapp.
Today’s newsletter is sponsored by:
Planning + Outcome Perfected
