The Dispatch Monthly Mailbag is Back

It’s Managing Editor Michael Reneau’s turn to answer your questions.

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Dear Dispatch members,

After a brief hiatus, the Dispatch Monthly Mailbag is back—and in September, Michael Reneau will be in the hot seat.

As a reminder, this series—available to members only—is designed to help readers get to know everyone on the Dispatch staff a little better. Andrew Egger, Haley Byrd Wilt, Charlotte Lawson, Rachael Larimore, and Declan Garvey have taken turns answering your questions in recent months.

Next up: Michael Reneau.

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  1. Rtpdavislaw

    Obviously, the millions of Trump fans almost universally reject criticism of him no matter how well-founded. Reporting that, as your site does repeatedly does, is nothing new. Far more interesting would be discussions of WHY? Most are simply decent people who for reasons which are worth exploring feel loyal to him. They choose to disregard, or ignore, his deficiencies because...? This subject should be fodder for many a thoughtful piece. Richmond Davis, rtpdavislaw@aol.com

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    Margaret.Friedberg

    I have been getting more requests to refer friends to the Dispatch both on my social media. It might be normal marketing, but I'm assuming you want to grow? To the extent that I can offer some constructive viewpoints: Almost all of my friends are Free Press readers, -- both dems and reps -- and they could also theoretically be your readers too, but . . . they hesitate. I think part of this is because when you guys are writing the opinion pieces they tend to be focused pretty exclusively on one particular perspective which maybe is relevant in some parts of the country -- but you maybe missing political waves occurring in other parts. I specifically think you are missing some trends in liberal states. My historically progressive friends here in NYC are growing unhappy, even if they are not actually switching their voting registration. It's not only the crime and the immigration issues, but families I know with kids in schools are having to deal with very intense indoctrination issues and are pretty upset. They are also unhappy with the womens' sports issues. You can't get bluer than NYC and Lee Zeldin (a pro-life republican) nearly got elected Governor, and that takes thousands of blue City voters. I think folks in exhausted blue states are ready to read truly centrist views that are lacking here in mainstream media. But, you guys haven't been tremendously centrist for a while. Case in point, Jonah and Nick both sort of all took a sledgehammer to Viveck last week. It's really hard to figure out why -- since literally every Dem I know in NY really likes Viveck. I just think you would want to discuss pros and cons of lots of different candidates and lots of different issues. Recently, you seemed to know a lot about what/who is behind the Climate Corps (Sunrise, Prakash, Chakrabarti) and you didn't really touch it. Fertile ground for some brave reporting, yes? Also, maybe be positive about more folks sometimes. If you get back to more centrist reporting in your columns, and less about the anti-populist thing, I think you would grow.

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  3. Srstout61

    I live in the Nashville area now, but grew up in East Tennessee and specifically Northeast Tennessee, which at one time was known as Upper East Tennessee. And my rural upbringing was near Watauga Lake close to the Tri-Cities area. This area was staunchly Republican since the Civil War, but I thought it was a more moderate type of Republicanism than the MAGA Trumpian movement. My role models were Howard Baker and Lamar Alexander. And I would appreciate thoughts about the lack of civility and polarization now the norm. When did it start to change? Lee Atwater? Newt Gingrich? Karl Rove? I think it was after Reagan.

    And maybe it changed when Democrats violated norms to aggressively destroy Bork and fail to destroy Clarence Thomas, but why is it so bitter now when it was not before. Romney seems like the last of the old breed. I have read a lot of things. Ben Sasse wrote about the phenomenon in Them. I think it may be the politicization of churches and the withering of other civic and community organizations as noted by Charles Murray in Bowling Alone. But at some point politics became not some policies believed but a means of identifying universal the core of who you are.

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  4. Kevren22

    As a fellow evangelical, what are some of your favorite books/resources/thinkers for how your faith impacts your view of news. politics, and the public sphere as a whole? And what advice do you have on training your kids to think deeply and Biblically about matters of societal importance without forcing your beliefs on them in a way that encourages them in terms of how to think instead of just what to think?

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  5. Kgfroehle

    Three questions; take your pick?
    1. How many people work for The Dispatch?
    2. What English solecism grates on you the most?
    3. Is Tennessee worth retiring to?

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  6. Erin.Mc.Henry

    Why did you leave World magazine? Did you find anything problematic with the worldview there? I stopped my subscription there a long time ago as they seemed to fundamentalist.

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    Angie

    Someone may have asked this already...but...there are many kinds of editors apparently, and I never was sure of the differences...what specifically does a managing editor do and how is that different from content editors, or executive editors, etc?

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    Mike Kupfer

    If I remember correctly, when it was Rachael's turn, there were some questions about what exactly she did in her editing role, but I don't recall seeing the answer. So, let's try again. What's a "managing editor" do? Bonus question: what are the other editing positions at The Dispatch, and what do they do?

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      Anne W (Raw5254)

      Good question! I’ve been wondering what the difference is between Executive and Managing editor.

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  9. Pamwhitmore

    My husband and I have been eyeing East Tennessee for years, hoping to buy some acreage and live a rural (or at least wannabe rural) life. Should we move there from Utah? Would we be seen as invaders?

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  10. Russell J

    Do many people identify as being from East Tennessee? I’m more familiar with Chattanooga but don’t recall the East Tennessee identifier as much. TN valley was definitely used. Are politics discussed much at all in groups affiliated with churches in that area? Some of us know Ronald should be MVP because he has been consistently the best player in the league on the greatest team. 1st 40/70 player ever is still a possibility. Awesome times to be an Atlanta fan.

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