My new newsroom

And how you can visit

Oct 06, 2022

magazine pile lot — Photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash

Nearly six months after I left daily newspapering, I’m back in a newsroom.

It feels good.

OK, it’s not like the newsroom of old. It’s not a place with a roof overhead, where I could look across a big room and watch my colleagues pounding out stories on deadline; where there was nearly always a writer complaining an editor had screwed up a lede; where, at the end of each day, folks were plotting a quick dash out the door to Mac’s Tavern before that editor could ask them to make just one more call to fill a hole in a story.

I sure miss that. I have for a long time.

These days, my newsroom is a bit different. It’s a once-per-month Zoom call where my colleagues are all on a computer screen.

OK, it won’t evoke any of the gritty newsrooms that were in movies like “Deadline — USA”, “The Paper” or “All the President’s Men.”

But as far as newsrooms go, it’s a pretty good one.

I’ve mentioned before that Along the Mississippi is part of The Iowa Writers Collaborative. We’re a collection of old and new writers from across the state; some of us come from the toils of daily newspapering while others arrived by a different path. No matter how we got here, though, we’re all dedicated to offering our readers news, analysis, commentary and ideas they’re not getting anywhere else.

I hope you’ll take a look at the work of the collaborative – and subscribe – because it’s worth it.

Just look at some of our recent stories:

Laura Belin started a conversation about Gov. Kim Reynolds’ new race-baiting TV ad; Pulitzer winner Art Cullen wrote about how legalized marijuana is beginning to surround Iowa, whether we like it or not; Dana James tells the trolls “The word Black is not racist” and Doug Burns in Carroll, offers the view that advocacy on local issues (in this case, train noise) could chart a path away from the poison infecting our state and national politics.

As for myself, I recently pointed out how U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst is attacking IRS workers even as she and others in Congress are letting tax cheats get away with costing taxpaying Americans hundreds of billions of dollars. Each year.

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Practically every day there’s something worth checking out, which is what I want to talk about now.

Once a month, the collaborative gets together in our virtual newsroom, or what we call the “Office Lounge,” to talk about how our newsletters are faring, offer tips and exchange ideas; it’s where we plot to grow the collaborative and its readership – and, at our last meeting, we shared had a laugh or two between Cullen swatting flies (It’s Iowa, you know.)

Well, beginning later this month, the collaborative is offering a special feature for those of you who are paid subscribers. You’ll be invited to participate in our monthly meetings.

This month, the Office Lounge will be on Oct. 28, from noon to 1 p.m.

A Zoom link will be sent to paid subscribers the week before, which will let you in the room.

I hope paid subscribers to Along the Mississippi will join us. People who do will have the opportunity to ask questions, offer ideas – or just listen if you choose.

None of us knows what this will be like but join us and we’ll all find out together.

If not, that’s OK. Maybe another time.

Still, be sure to check out my colleagues, who are listed below. I hope you’ll subscribe and support their work, too.

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin

Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury

Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media

Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook

Suzanna de Baca Dispatches from the Heartland

Debra Engle: A Whole New World

Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck

Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration

Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt