Welcome to an experiment.
A journalistic skunkworks project to identify and understand the issues unfolding in every corner of Tennessee.
At its core, this experiment will attempt to illuminate issues, ideas and policies transforming communities and lives statewide — for better and for worse.
How people live today resembles almost nothing from the past. Technology is changing the world at a faster pace than ever before — and with that will come opportunity and, most likely, pain.
Yet, there’s a shrinking press corps birddogging the currents reshaping communities and societies. Tennessee has not been immune.
There need to be more journalists, platforms and models. Not fewer.
Enter BirdDog.
In a world saturated with headlines in a digital race to be first, BirdDog goes in the opposite direction, focusing instead on thoughtful, analytical reporting. It’s designed to be more “slow news” — a concept borrowed from the slow food movement to eat consciously and local.
BirdDog, at the outset, will take a loose approach to covering health care that encompasses how changes to the economy, work and technology impact the ways people access care. It’ll run, to start, on a cycle with fresh pieces of varying lengths and formats on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday.
It’s not enough to simply read about the issues, ideas and policies affecting our state. We must engage as informed Tennesseans. Look for BirdDog to offer opportunities to meet with industry leaders and like-minded individuals through salons and other idea exchanges.
Over the next few months, this will be a one-woman shop with the potential for expansion on the horizon. I envision a variety of paths forward, but on any route, its viability depends on whether people read and support it.
I want to connect the dots so that wonky becomes interesting and nerdy is cool. If that’s interesting to you, then think of this publication as a living and breathing entity that is as much yours as it is mine.
Happy reading—
Holly