Celebrating news collaboratives + we're hiring!

Happy Tuesday, y’all! Ag & Water Desk editorial director Tegan Wendland here. I just got back from Motor City, where I attended the Collaborative Journalism Summit and spoke on a panel about the Desk’s approach to giving away our stories for free.

It was great to meet so many other folks involved in news collaborations, like the Great Lakes Journalism Collaborative, Great Salt Lake Collaborative and Resolve Philly, and nonprofit media outlets like Planet Detroit and Outlier Media. Collaborative journalism is having a moment!

I really enjoyed learning about collaborative environmental journalism projects, like Inundated, and getting the inside scoop on the big international Panama Papers project from editor Gerard Ryle.

Across the world, news outlets have realized the power and importance of working together and leveraging resources for the common good — whether that’s a group of 370 journalists pouring over millions of financial documents, or a collective of smaller media outlets working together to cover watershed-wide issues.

Kevin Hall, with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, said the “lone wolf” attitude around journalism is dying out, and that now, “collaboration is assumed.”

I loved to hear it! Sometimes it feels like the challenges we face in covering the Mississippi River basin are unique to us — but outlets across the world are working together to figure it out, too. Thanks for keeping up with us on that journey.

Cheers,

Tegan Wendland

PS: I also went to the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit and learned about the fascinating history of agricultural equipment in the United States. Can you imagine cultivating with this 23-ton 1916 steam engine tractor?!

—Tegan

We’re hiring: Engagement Editor & Expert Journalists

The Ag & Water Desk is growing. We’re looking for a part-time Engagement Editor to lead community and audience outreach and promotion of our stories. We’re also seeking three new Expert Journalists — experienced staff journalists or freelancers — to provide mentoring for our reporters and project leadership on a part-time basis.

We encourage you to spread the word about these positions! Please reply here or email us at info@agwaterdesk.org with questions. Applications are due June 10, 2024.

See all our stories at our website

Did you know you can find all our journalism, as republished by outlets around the country, at our website? We recently revamped our stories page to feature a complete archive of our work.

Explore nearly two years of our award-winning collaborative coverage of the U.S.’s largest watershed, on topics from farming to policy to culture and more, and check back often for updates!

Lead partners:

Newsroom partners: Star Tribune, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Louisville Courier Journal, Harvest Public Media, The Lens, Wisconsin Watch, Investigate Midwest, Daily Memphian, The Gazette, DTN/The Progressive Farmer, Inside Climate News, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis Public Radio, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate, WWNO-New Orleans Public Radio and University of Missouri affiliates.

This weekly newsletter is compiled by Ag & Water Desk assistant director Annie Ropeik.