Terry's Notebook — First Entry

Friends,

For thirty years, I kept two sets of notes.

One set was for the air—the scripts, the stand-ups, the carefully balanced two-minute packages. I’d scribble out what I’d say in the 20-second “tags” to my stories, memorize it, the red light would go on, and I’d close with, “David.” Or “Peter.” “Diane.” “Charlie.” And that was that. Those notebooks filled up, and got tossed.

The other set was for me. The scrawl on legal pads in the back of campaign planes. The things I saw that didn't make the cut, the first impressions of foreign capitals and war zones, presidential candidates, Supreme Court nominees, inmates on death row—the whole kaleidoscope of the human experience that I’ve been so lucky and blessed to see.

I would also sometimes write down arguments I had with myself—and, frankly, with everyone else—about what the story really was.

At ABC News, some of those arguments went out over email. I was the guy who hit Reply All and said the thing nobody wanted said. Management kept telling me to quit it. I never did.

Today, I'm opening that second set of notes to you.

Terry's Notebook is a new feature of Real Patriotism, and it's the one I've been most eager to launch, because it changes what this place is. The Notebook is the raw material of the journalism. The stories I'm chasing, the interviews I'm working to land, what I'm seeing and reading and doubting and turning over on the drive home.

And it runs both ways. You'll see my notes; I want yours. Your questions, your corrections, your tips, your view from where you live. Not just your comments, but you’re own reporting.

In the Notebook, you're not an audience. You're colleagues.

This is our newsroom now.

So let’s lay out the assignment, as it stands now.

Here’s the plan.

I'm going out on the road. Starting next month, I'll be taking several trips, reporting from across the country—from the places where control of Congress, and so much more than that, will be decided.

This won’t be the cable-news panel version of these races. The real one: school gyms, county fairs, diners, front porches. I'll file video dispatches from the road, night after night, so you can see what I'm seeing while I'm still seeing it. The working title is what it is: On the Road with Terry.

So our first assignment is simple and fun: Where? And who?

Where should I go? We’ve got a decent budget (thanks to a generous donor), but it’s not an ABC News budget. Maybe 4-5 trips between now and Election Day (or after). Some of the big races, for sure—too,

But where are some other great political stories this election cycle, Senate or House? Or in the states—gubernatorial or statehouse elections?

For example, I’ve got my eye on Iowa, where the Democrat, self-described “prairie populist” and two-time Paralympian gold medalist Josh Turek, is running neck-and-neck trying to unseat incumbent Republican Ashley Hinson.

So if you’re on the ground in those states, let me know where you think I should go, and who I might want to interview, or just speak with. What are the driving issues? We’ll do this together.

Next week I head to Björklunden, Lawrence University's campus on Lake Michigan, for the seminar I've taught every summer for fifteen years. Lawrence is my alma mater, a place I love. It’s one of those small colleges where there’s a very real earnestness of inquiry in the air, where Plato and and climate change and Duke Ellington and so much more aren’t just classwork but living debates and discussions, often over beers in the Viking Room.

And Björklunden shares in that magic. My seminar subject this: the midterms and the resilience of American democracy. For the first time, we're recording it—and Real Patriotism Members will be able to join. Five days of sustained thinking, with citizens who show up to do it together. More on that shortly.

And the columns keep coming. Every Tuesday, a deeper dive into the news. Every Sunday, the poem. The columns and the videos stay free to all, every day, because that's the commitment this place was built on.

So that's the plan as it stands. It will change—plans always do once you're on the ground, and when it changes, you'll read about it here first. That's the point of the Notebook. You'll know what I know, roughly when I know it.

Terry’s Notebook is a benefit for paid Members of Real Patriotism. I want to be straight with you about why.

I believe civic journalism belongs in the commons, and for the most part that’s what Real Patriotism is—the columns and the videos. That's not changing. But the road trips, the equipment, the editing, the time—independent journalism runs on the people who choose to sustain it. Not sponsors. Not a network. You.

So if you've been reading along these past months and you're ready to pull up a chair in the newsroom—to see the notes, join the conversation, and help decide what story we go after next—become a Member today. It's $10 a month, or $100 for the year, and it makes this work possible in the most direct way there is.

—Terry

P.S. — If you're already a Member: thank you. The Notebook is open to you right now. Come in, look around, and tell me what I'm missing. That's the job.