July 30 at Lincoln South Rotary - Flatwater Free Press

Matt Wynn, Executive Director and Mathew Hansen, Editor of the Flatwater Free Press did a presentation at Lincoln South Rotary Club on July 30, 2021.
This story is based on information presented at the club meeting as well as items found on the internet.
 
Matt Wynn and Matthew Hansen have impressive bios - please review them below.
 
They pointed out that we have seen our papers get smaller, has less impact, and media jobs are down 52% in Nebraska over the last 20 years - that is less than half of the journalists. We are not able to cover what is truly happening around us. Instead of writing a story that is meaningful, you have to write a story that draws attention and there is also pressure to get it out fast. Unfortunately that is how many journalists are measured as he was when he worked for USA Today.
 
Wanting to get back to meaningful journalism, Matt looked at the concept of non-profit news. The idea was cropping up in 2008 and has grown to 330 across the nation, now in 47 states.
 
This is the future of journalism in Nebraska.
 
They won't cover football, murders, the royal family or other celebrity news. They will cover come stories about events in Omaha and Lincoln though most of that will be left to the Omaha World Herald and the Lincoln Journal Star.
 
The focus will be on stories by Nebraskans, for Nebraskans, about Nebraskans. The people of Nebraska - across the entire state - will be telling their stories. They plan to cover big issues such as COVID - not from the political standpoint but from the impact on people and their lives. On their website they state they are looking for:
  • Stories about border-to-border issues. Think environment, state agencies, policy, etc.
  • Stories of Omaha or Lincoln. It’s hard to cover a state and ignore the major metros. We welcome stories of people or issues unique to our large cities.
  • Stories from outside Omaha or Lincoln. In the same vein, if a story is simply about Ord or McCook or Valentine, it fits the Flatwater Free Press‘ mission. People, places, things people around the state should know.
  • Stories of historically underserved populations. Think immigrant communities, native issues, and stories of people who have not always been represented in our media.
They plan to start out with 2 full time investigative reporters and will go from there. They mentioned that it would be great to have specialists such as an agricultural reporter, environmental reporter, etc. They are also looking for freelancers.
 
The Flatwater Free Press is a program of the Nebraska Journalism Trust (https://nebraskajournalismtrust.org/). They are currently funded through private grants.
 
They have just opened their webpage https://www.flatwaterfreepress.org./.
 
And, you can find introductory videos on YouTube.
 
 
BIOS

Mathew Hansen, Editor
Matthew Hansen is the editor of the Flatwater Free Press, Nebraska’s first statewide nonprofit news source. Hansen, a 16-year veteran of Nebraska newspapers, has previously worked as a reporter at the Lincoln Journal Star and then a reporter and metro columnist at the Omaha World-Herald.

During his time in newspapers, he travelled to Cuba and Afghanistan and won multiple state, regional and national awards for investigative stories, feature stories and columns. He was the 2015 Great Plains Writer of the Year. Most recently Hansen has served as the managing editor at the Buffett Early Childhood Institute, creating a new website focusing on early childhood education.

The native of Red Cloud and one-time intern at the Red Cloud Chief and the Hastings Tribune now lives in Omaha and is married to Sarah Baker-Hansen, a longtime Nebraska food writer and restaurant critic.Their book together, “The Better Half” is an examination of the Nebraska’s finest road trips, restaurants and hidden stories.

 

Matt Wynn, Executive Director
Matt Wynn is the Executive Director of the Nebraska Journalism Trust, which is launching the Flatwater Free Press this fall. Most recently, he was an editor on the investigative desk at USA Today, where his dive into the proliferation of model bills was awarded the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting. Prior to that, he was the Director of Investigative and Enterprise at MedPage Today. He also spent time as a reporter at the Omaha World-Herald and other newspapers. An Omaha Central alum, he graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He lives in Omaha with his wife, Sarah, and three children.

 

TOPIC

Nebraska’s journalism is on the ropes. Entertainment and sports dominate revenue, leading to more of that low-stakes news. It’s increasingly difficult to find time and resources for costly journalism that holds institutions accountable, explains policy, and gives us an identity. 

The Nebraska Journalism Trust is launching the Flatwater Free Press, which seeks to plug our growing news gap with two types of work that are most at risk: investigations and human-interest features. Consider it the Sunday newsmagazine of the 21st century -- a home for profiles and exposes alike. We are unapologetically inclusive. We lift up regular Nebraskans. We expose wrongdoings of those with power. We punch up.

Our team will publish 1-2 stories a week in a variety of media. “Stories” encompass a mix of the written word, documentary-style video, podcasts and data-driven news applications. We meet our audience where they are, and take care to spread our work beyond the pieces we publish through salons and other nontraditional venues.