What is BirdDog?
BirdDog is an experiment to see what happens when a journalist with a penchant for chasing issues launches a platform to identify and understand the issues unfolding in every corner of Tennessee.
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 that are reshaping communities and societies. Tennessee has not been immune.
There need to be more journalists, platforms and models. Not fewer.
BirdDog is designed to offer thoughtful and analytical reporting; to be more “slow news” — a concept borrowed from the slow food movement to eat consciously and locally.
At the outset, BirdDog 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 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 BirdDog as a living and breathing entity that is as much yours as it is mine.
The “Welcome” post from March 21, 2018.
Introducing the next phase of BirdDog from June 17, 2018.
About Holly Fletcher
A journalist who has made a career out of covering the issues underpinning how a society moves and functions: health care, power and renewables, corporate finance, infrastructure and how shifts in technology and the economy are re-shaping communities.
The goal of BirdDog is to establish a sustainable medium to cover the obstacles and challenges facing people, particularly Tennesseans.
Previously, I covered health care policy and business for The Tennessean. Prior to that I covered M&A and project finance in the power, utility and renewable energy sector in the Americas for Power Finance & Risk in New York City.
I grew up in Springfield, Tennessee, before moving to Boston to attend Northeastern University. Graduate school took me to the Columbia University School of Journalism in NYC.
I have a few interests outside of journalism — namely Finnish design house Marimekko, sustainable design, nationalism, crossword puzzles, scones, unsweetened iced tea and cats.
Say ‘hi’: contact@readbirddog.com