Sorry to be so junior high in the subject line. But I couldn’t think of anyway else to introduce our newest story today, about a newspaper called the Nebraska Independent that has begun appearing in the mailboxes of more than 100,000 Nebraskans in the past few months.
I hesitate to use the term “newspaper” or for that matter the word “independent” without quote marks, since the Nebraska Independent, as FFP reporter Jeremy Turley reports, is actually one of a series of clearly partisan mailers funded by a lefty Washington, D.C.-based group with an, ahem, interesting founder. The goal isn’t providing you, the reader, with information, nuance, different sides of a story. The goal is to sway your vote, while hiding the ball on what, exactly, the Nebraska Independent is.
It’s “news” masquerading as news — a move that experts in our story today label “pink slime journalism” and note is also happening on the right.
This type of pseudo news is becoming more prevalent as traditional news outlets disappear. Combatting this sort of thing is one of the reasons that we founded Flatwater Free Press in the first place! So I’m glad to be able to bring you this story today.
Voice of an angel: Do yourself a favor. Click on this story and read it of course — correspondent Leo Adam Biga has done a really nice job profiling 12-year-old Jayde Dorsey. But make sure, make absolutely sure, to scroll down to watch and listen to the video of Dorsey singing.
Oh my gosh. Oh. My. Gosh.
I’m no Simon Cowell, but it’s pretty clear this middle schooler and her big voice are going places.
FlatFest Eve: We’re sold out for next Wednesday’s Flatwater Free Press Festival in Lincoln, codename FlatFest, but I have been advised that I can alert chronic procrastinators like myself who missed out on tickets … You can now join a waiting list by shooting an email to [email protected].
Shoot that email off right now!
Also, if you’re attending. Let me know what questions you have about the past, present or future of journalism. I may ask it during the panel discussion!
State of Our Union: And there’s another way to hang out with us next Wednesday! We’re co-hosting a free event with The Atlantic, called “State of Our Union.” Starts at 9 a.m., runs ‘til mid-afternoon, and involves myself and several other FFP leaders and reporters in conversation with Nebraska politicians and newsmakers. Learn more, check the speakers and agenda and sign up if you’re free and intrigued.
Lincoln, mark those calendars: On Sunday Nov. 3 at 2 p.m., I will be back in Lincoln, at one of my fave local bookstores, Francie & Finch, to talk journalism, hear story ideas and also hand out an actual physical newspaper we printed. It’s our annual FFP Commemorative Edition, and it’s very cool. Speaking of cool: The bookstore is letting me select a couple of my favorite Nebraska books, by FFP correspondents and FFP-connected authors like Carson Vaughan, Joe Starita, Ted Genoways and more. I’m also planning to bring a few copies of “The Better Half,” Sarah Baker Hansen and my book on our epic Nebraska roadtrip.)
If you buy one that day, 10% of the proceeds go to Flatwater Free Press! How nice is that?
Don’t fret Omaha: I’m planning to do something similar at The Bookworm in November, too. More info to come in future newsletters.
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:
- The best journalism of the week award goes to Mr. William Swett of the York News Times — a story worthy of both that paper, this newsletter and also the New York Times. Nebraska’s new prison medical director is denying further medical testing and other care to prisoners nearly 1/5 of the time, records show. That’s way, way more than his predecessors, Swett writes. And the director is overruling doctors in the process.
(May need subscriber access to view) - It’s shaping up to be one of the most out-of-nowhere close races on Election Day. Dan Osborn, a nonpartisan candidate for Senate, appears by polling to be within striking distance of Republican incumbent Sen. Deb Fischer. We shall see. The Nebraska Examiner’s Aaron Sanderford with the latest polling and the story.
- And Omaha is undoubtedly a presidential battleground in this election cycle that seems like it may be one of the tightest in American history. There’s still serious “Blue Dot” energy — in fact this Examiner story previews a meetup on Sunday — but there’s also serious red pushback amid polling that suggests both Harris-Trump and the congressional race here (Republican incumbent Don Bacon vs Democratic challenger Tony Vargas) are gonna be tight as heck on Election Day.
Here’s a nice Washington Post story on the fight for the area’s lone electoral vote.
This seems like a good time to point out that we’re having a whole panel discussion titled “The Battle for NE-2 and The Future of Nebraska’s Split Electoral Vote” with state senators on both sides during State of Our Union! - Legalized sports gambling has swept the country in recent years, often with little discussion of what impact it’s having on Americans. So this is an intensely important and really well-done story from my favorite sports publication, The Athletic, on one sports fan’s descent into serious trouble.
(May need subscriber access to view.) - Remember that program meant to feed hungry kids, the one that Gov. Pillen first rejected and then changed his mind about? Important follow-up from the OWH’s Martha Stoddard on the massive number of Nebraska children and families who ended up getting help.
(May need subscriber access.) - Did not think I would be interested to read about the new head of IT for the State of Nebraska. I was … very wrong. The Journal Star’s Andrew Wegley with a story on Matthew McCarville’s hard upbringing, and the ideas he’s bringing into what seems like a far more important job than most of us realize.
- Well, here’s a government action pretty much every American can get behind. It’s going to, by law, become easier to cancel subscriptions. Hooray! Sorry from Neiman Lab.
