A wise man leaned over to me during Wednesday night’s FlatFest and urged me to look around. I did as he asked. The grand ballroom inside Lincoln’s historic train station was packed. The sold-out crowd of nearly 400 was alive, amped, crackling with energy following an incredible performance by 12-year-old Jayde Dorsey, subject of a recent FFP story. Many of us had attended the all-day event we co-hosted with The Atlantic, where we interviewed and had panel discussions with politicians, newsmakers, experts and FFP reporters.
Now the crowd was expectantly talking to me, our leadership team and the rest of the staff. They spoke of stories we’d told. Stories we should tell. The importance of the work. The importance of journalism, in Nebraska, by and for Nebraskans.
We were there celebrating this thing called the Flatwater Free Press. In three short years, it’s gone from idea to reality to, increasingly, part of the firmament of Nebraska’s news landscape. But it didn’t feel real in that moment, not to me. It felt like I lived inside a dream.
Remember this, the wise man said. Find a place for this moment here, he said, pointing to his brain, and here, he said, pointing to his chest.
I promised him I would.
Finding Dad: I write some version of this every time her byline appears in FFP, but I don’t care, I’m gonna say it again. I love it when Cindy Lange-Kubick appears in the Flatwater Free Press. And her story today is one of her finest.
His Nebraska family didn’t know, for decades, for generations, what happened to Private Walters. They lived with the mystery. And then a determined man living halfway around the world unlocked the hidden story for them.
Rising restaurant costs: Freelancer Sarah Baker Hansen took a break from reviews this week to write a really important restaurant story. You have surely noticed that restaurant prices are rising, and you may have arched your eyebrows a time or two when the bill arrives. (I know I have.)
SBH’s story this week seeks to show why that’s happening, using the story of the wildly beloved Block 16 in Omaha and the price of their signature burger.
State of our State: As I mentioned at the top, we co-hosted an event with The Atlantic on Wednesday. That’s crazy to write. And even more incredibly, the event was entirely focused on the problems and potential solutions facing the Cornhusker State we call home. You can check out all our live coverage of the event on our website, scrolling down just a bit on the homepage. It includes my interview with Rep. Mike Flood, Sara Gentzler’s really cool panel discussion — and honest-to-God top-notch debate — on Nebraska splitting its electoral votes, Exec Director Matt Wynn’s absolutely fascinating discussion with Ho-Chunk’s Lance Morgan, and much, much more. We should also have videos to share soon.
Thank you so much to The Atlantic for coming to Nebraska, and devoting a day to The State of Our State.
Languishing land: FFP reporter Destiny Herbers is doing an increasingly nice job finding and telling Native stories. It’s in the tradition of good beat reporting, where you tell a few good ones, and people start coming to you and giving you even better story tips.
The one this week… wow. Santee families own land that is in trust to, and supposed to be managed by, the federal government. But the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs has let some of that farmland grow weedy, get overrun by invasive trees and flood. So these Santee families, who are playing by the rules set by the government, now own unfarmable land that provides them little to no income.
Important Lincoln announcement: We announced at FlatFest that we’re planning to hire a new reporter soon, our seventh. This reporter will cover the city of Lincoln. You a Lincolnite? More coverage of The Star City sound like something you can get behind? You can help by clicking right here or going to the bottom of this page and clicking on the big orange button that says, “DONATE.”
I’m so excited to add a Lincoln reporter to our stable.
Free Lincoln FFP event alert: I’m gonna be back in Lincoln next Sunday, Nov. 3, to talk to you about journalism, hear your story ideas and suggest some good reading at Francie and Finch, one of my fave bookstores in all the land. Here’s the bookstore’s flier with more info. Hope to see you there!
And finally: If you couldn’t make it to FlatFest, we wrote you a story from the event, which gives you a good sense of the evening. We haven’t yet picked a spot for FlatFest 3. We don’t know who the speakers are.
But I promise you there will be moments of magic. And I promise you that, if you care about the future of journalism and nonprofit journalism in Nebraska, you will find many, many likeminded people at FlatFest 3 who care every bit as much as you.
Thank you to our sponsors of FlatFest, including Google, the Nebraska Community Foundation, the Lincoln Community Foundation, Ho-Chunk Incorporated, Black Hills Energy, VGA Grants & Fundraising, Kinkaider Brewing, Francie & Finch Bookshop, Tyler Mainquist, Elevator Co-Warehousing, KIOS 91.5 FM, KZUM 98.3 FM and last but most definitely not least, the John and Lynn Williams Family. To all of you: Thank you so much for supporting the mission of nonprofit journalism.
Thank you to our panelists: Angel Jennings, assistant managing editor at the Los Angeles Times, Coulter Jones, investigative reporter at Bloomberg News and Evan Smith, co-founder of the Texas Tribune and now senior advisor at Emerson. It’s so fun for me to have these wide-ranging discussions with badass journalists who are tied in some way to Nebraska. Even if they, like Coulter, did us a disservice by leaving to attend the University of Missouri.
Thank you so much to Jayde Dorsey for bringing the house down with the power of her voice.
And thank you, deeply, to the employees of Nebraska Journalism Trust and the journalists of Flatwater Free Press who make FlatFest — and the Flatwater Free Press itself — possible. You make it great.
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].
What a week. This was so long and in-depth that I’m skipping News from Around Nebraska this week. It will be back next week! See you then.
—Matthew Hansen, Executive Editor
