We used to work inside an actual broom closet. Now we have a conference table and everything. The Flatwater Free Press turned two this week! From left to right: managing editor and Lincoln reporter Ryan Hoffman; investigative reporter Yanqi Xu, Seacrest Greater Nebraska reporter Natalia Alamdari, editor Matthew Hansen (with increasing salt in my beard), Silicon Prairie news editor Stefanie Monge and state government watchdog reporter Sara Gentzler. (Photo by Joseph Saaid for the Flatwater Free Press)
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Let’s start with what I believe is a stellar piece of data-driven investigative journalism.
FFP investigative reporter Yanqi Xu spent a lot of time unraveling potential nitrate problems at hog operations tied to Gov. Jim Pillen. This was difficult work…heck, the state makes it excruciatingly tough to even find out who owns what pig farm.
This week, we published her story. It shows that 16 different hog facilities tied to Pillen Family Farms have tested sky high for nitrate — five times higher than the limit for safe drinking water — at least once.
Now, no one is drinking from these hog farm monitoring wells. But Yanqi talked to multiple experts who confirmed that some of that nitrate is moving with groundwater, potentially affecting the water in nearby towns.
She didn’t talk to the governor, who declined to speak to us for this important public health story. I think that’s too bad, especially because, in this case, there’s likely evidence that Pillen Family Farms has seen water problems and fixed ‘em — evidence we don’t have in our story as a result of Pillen and company execs’ silence.
Yanqi Xu’s resulting story is exactly why Flatwater Free Press exists. We’re here to unravel hard stories, even when it’s uncomfortable. We’re here to shine a light in spots where light needs shining.
Her name is pronounced Yen-chee Shu. It’s time for those who appreciate good Nebraska journalism to learn it.
End of an era: The longtime alternative newspaper is closing, ending an era in which it served as an important voice for Omaha’s arts, culture and city politics.
Erin Grace, my one-time columnist sibling at the Omaha World-Herald, lovingly tells the tale of Mr. John Heaston, the father of the Omaha Reader, and his decision to shut it down.
Flatwater turns two: Two years ago this week, I hit send on the very first Flatwater Free Press story. I wrote it because we had no reporters. Exec director Matt Wynn and I — the only two employees — also didn’t have an office. Or a clue.
We soon moved into a space that had been used as storage for the previous company that rented it. An honest-to-goodness broom closet!
Today, in addition to Matt and I, we have four full-time reporters who cover Omaha, Lincoln and Greater Nebraska, an assistant editor, two reporting fellows and directors who run operations and advancement. The Nebraska Journalism Trust — that’s FFP’s parent org — now also parents startup business publication Silicon Prairie News, skillfully run by Stefanie Monge.
As you can see from the photo above, we got a bigger office. And no matter where we have worked, we have put journalism first. The parole board not showing for hearings. A program for victims of violent crime that wasn’t helping victims of violent crime. Seward County’s rampant use of civil asset forfeiture. Small town clerks stealing cash. Omaha’s out-of-state landlords. Lincoln’s biggest political donor. The nation’s toughest immigration court.
And also important feature stories on Nebraskans, like a Lincoln church helping the poor and a Santee school graduating all its students and our homesteader past and a lovely little cafe in Newman Grove. The sort of stories that bind us together.
Flatwater Free Press turned two this week. We’re a nonprofit who would not exist without your support. Thank you to every single one of you who made this possible. Look at you, Nebraska! Look at us!
It’s been an incredible two years.
Here’s to 200 more.
Thank you to our sponsor: This week, it’s a new one…KIOS Omaha. I love me some public radio. I love Fresh Air and This American Life and RadioLab and NPR’s news. I also love going on Live and Local and Riverside Chats and talking about what Flatwater has going on.
Thank you to KIOS Omaha, 91.5 on your FM dial, for supporting the crucial mission of Nebraska nonprofit journalism.
Very very last chance: We have sold 344 tickets to Flatwater’s second birthday party, aka FlatFest.
That means we have…six left.
Learn more, buy your tickets right darn now and be the person who sells out FlatFest!
See you next week. Hopefully at FlatFest.
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:
- Let’s hear it for beat reporters! Julie Anderson of the Omaha World-Herald has covered medicine. She understands medicine. Which is why she took a local angle on a story giving hope to families all over this country…promising developments in Alzheimer’s treatment.
- Let’s hear it again for local beat reporters! Pat Sangino and others at the Journal Star have been covering the rapid rise and shocking demise of Red Way, the new airline flying out of Lincoln…until it wasn’t. Here’s Pat’s story on Red Way’s disappearing act.
- What the heck is going on with Nebraska’s 911 service? After a couple outages, state leaders are trying to figure it out, reports Kearney’s NTV. And KETV talks to a concerned Omaha state senator.
- One of Nebraska’s most notorious murderers died this week. The Journal Star’s Margaret Reist and Andrew Wegley with the story of Charles Simants’ life, killing, trial and death.
- Finally, this story has no connection to Nebraska, but I don’t care. An amazing storyteller, Sally Jenkins, tells the tale of the amazing, enduring friendship between two rivals you may have heard of, names of Chris and Martina. A must read.
