Executive director Matt Wynn and I are thrilled to announce that we have hired two talented reporters who will join our staff Nov. 1. They will focus on telling important stories, doing investigative journalism, and completing reporting projects that matter.
Natalia Alamdari has worked at newspapers throughout the country. Her reporting has taken her to small town shooting ranges in Missouri, contentious school board meetings in Delaware, and aquariums in Texas. Her past work has exposed state senators using racial slurs in emails, gender pay inequities in state departments, and the increasing presence of dark money in school board elections. Working at the Flatwater Free Press will be a return to Nebraska — in college, she spent a summer interning at the Omaha World-Herald. She is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia and native Texan. When she’s not reporting, you can probably find her baking, petting her cat, or trying out a new crafty hobby. Follow Natalia on Twitter.
Yanqi Xu (pronounced yen-chee shu) most recently covered courts and law for NC Policy Watch in North Carolina, focusing on criminal justice reform, housing justice and redistricting. Prior to that, she was part of a team at the Investigative Reporting Workshop that developed the Public Accountability Project, a newsroom search tool that hosts more than 1 billion public records in one place. Her work has put a face to North Carolina’s failed rental assistance efforts, called out the lawmaker fighting to keep children eligible for marriage, and led to nursing home reforms across the country. Also a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, Yanqi received a Telly Award for producing the online video show Global Journalist. She hails from South China, where she first developed an interest in telling stories that resonate with people, no matter where they are. Follow Yanqi on Twitter.
If you are keeping track, and I am, we now employ three Mizzou journalism grads and a lone Husker (me). I look forward to introducing our new reporters to the wonders of the Runza, the Sandhills, Mill Coffee, the Old Market and all the other Nebraska things that are way better than the abomination of St. Louis-style pizza.
A murderous tale: Our newest story is about a man who loves homicide. Not committing them, mind you, but researching old cases, writing true-crime books, and now starring in a docuseries focused on an infamous murder. Meet Harry MacLean, a Lincoln boy obsessed with the motives behind murder.
One last thing: Remember that these stories are your stories, and the Flatwater Free Press could always use your help. Do you know of a story that needs to be told? Send us your news tips using this form or via [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:
- Noise (North Omaha Information Support Everyone) and reporter Anuska Dhar tell an important story about how COVID-19 is impacting children being whipsawed between one parent who takes it seriously, and one who doesn’t.
- Nebraska Public Media reporter Fredd Knapp on how the state’s troubled prison system is throwing millions at employee pay raises — and why it may not work.
- Todd Cooper of the Omaha World-Herald on a local example of a grim national trend: Victims suing after being sexually assaulted by ride-share drivers.
- The Lincoln Journal Star’s Peter Salter is one of this state’s very best storytellers, and he proved it yet again by getting us to read a story about a Trans Am.
Support us through our fiscal sponsor, the Nebraska Community Foundation:
