March 28, 2024

Greenfield native, Tipton sports editor on ‘Storm Lake’ Q&A panel

GREENFIELD — Flanked by journalism professionals with many more decades of experience than he has, Greenfield’s own Matthew Dickinson was met with a warm welcome from his hometown here Thursday, Nov. 4.

Dickinson was a panelist on stage with Pulitzer Prize winning editor of the Storm Lake Times Art Cullen; Times staff reporter Tom Cullen; ISU community economics research and education specialist; and retired publisher/ current columnist for the Jefferson Herald, Rick Morain during a question and answer session that followed a free showing of the movie “Storm Lake,” which tells a small town journalism story lived by the Cullens, who own and operate The Times, at the Warren Cultural Center.

A full house in the WCC’s auditorium yielded many questions for the panelists about the current state of journalism in small towns. The session was moderated by Michelle Carns.

Dickinson’s story is unique, as he began in journalism during the current COVID-19 pandemic, just this September. He has been the sports editor at the Tipton Conservative in Tipton, a community of 3,100 centrally located between Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and the Quad Cities in Cedar County. Schools in Dickinson’s coverage area include Tipton, North Cedar and West Branch.

Dickinson graduated from Central College, where they don’t have a journalism program, however he gained significant experience working with Larry Happel in the sports information department there.

“Being on the job has given me a great appreciation for what goes into getting the paper out. Going in, I knew I wanted to do something with sports or writing, and newspaper is that natural first step, in that regard, but it’s a lot more than that,” Dickinson said. “It’s going out to the games, interviewing, photographing, laying out the page. There is a lot of behind the scenes work that doesn’t show up on that page.”

As far as coverage goes, Dickinson has already had the opportunity to cover a state championship, arguably the pinnacle of the experience of a sportswriter who gets wrapped up in their profession. The Tipton Tigers won the state cross country championship just a few weeks ago, but Dickinson said being a sports editor, to him, is more than that.

“It’s really about seeing those coaches and how they develop the kids. The kids especially, they always drive it. It’s nice to hear their story and share it with the community,” Dickinson said.

Dickinson first grew to appreciate small town journalism reading the Adair County Free Press. His father, Dan, who is on the WCC board, is a correspondent for the Free Press currently and has been for quite some time. He also remembers sportswriter Steve Thompson’s dedication to covering Nodaway Valley athletics when he was in middle and high school.

“I remember every single time I got interviewed, like after state cross country in 2016, I remember what I said word for word. After my last baseball game, Steve Thompson interviewed me. He knew I didn’t play that much but still thought I was deserving to be interviewed for that purpose,” Dickinson said. “It’s a very important that these kids realize their work does matter and it’s being recognized.”

Dickinson said he was grateful for the opportunity to come to his hometown and share his story in journalism with the crowd.

“I was thrilled with how many people showed up. Like they said, there’s a lot of apathetic people. As a journalist now, people can sometimes take your work for granted or they don’t care about the news anymore,” Dickinson said. “The turnout tonight showed [that isn’t always the case].”

Caleb Nelson

Caleb Nelson

Caleb Nelson has served as News Editor of the Adair County Free Press and Fontanelle Observer since Oct. 2017. He and his wife Kilee live in Greenfield. In Greenfield and the greater Adair County area, he values the opportunity to tell peoples' stories, enjoys playing guitar, following all levels of sports, and being a part of his local church.