What are you missing?

The benefits of going against the flow.

Once, years ago, an editor on the Metro desk of The New York Times told me, “Keep on zagging when everybody’s zigging.” I’ve embraced this counterintuitive approach to storytelling, especially when it comes to writing about popular topics. My strategy is to read the coverage, hit the phones and streets to hear from people who know their stuff, and then ask myself: What is the surprising take that other writers have missed? Whose perspective has been overlooked?

Much of the coverage of the midterm elections in Arizona focused on the crash and burn of far-right extremists. I, on the other hand, kept my eyes on a ballot measure that sought to give back to undocumented high school graduates the right to pay in-state tuition in state colleges and universities. As I wrote for Washington Post Opinions last month —

In the midterm elections, the best evidence of Arizona’s move toward political moderation wasn’t voters’ rejection of a far-right, divisive Republican running for governor. Or, in the race for secretary of state, the victory by an unexciting Democrat over a fiery extremist who disparaged the electoral process’s reliability — a process he would have overseen if elected.

The best evidence of Arizona’s shift away from Republican policies was the passage of a ballot measure reinstating the right of undocumented Arizonans to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. 

In life, as in journalism, we often choose to do what people around us are doing, or do it like they’re doing, because that seems to be the safe choice. If we take no risks, though, we confine ourselves to seeing the world through other people’s eyes. Everything ends up looking and feeling predictable. And as a result, there’s no motivation to keep on reading, or keep on going, because we inevitably conclude that there’s nothing else to be discovered.

I’m here to remind you that there are plenty of perspectives to explore and elevate when you’re not afraid to zag while everybody else is zigging.

Allow me, however, follow the lead of some good people I know and recalibrate my social media presence. No, I’m not leaving Twitter, but I’m also not creating new accounts on Post, Mastodon or whatever other platform is billing itself as a safer or better alternative. (I’m skeptical that there is such a thing.) I’ll be right here on Substack, writing to you not once a month, as I used to, but once a week. (I also like the levity of Instagram.) Stick around and, if you like what you find here, tell your friends to join our us.

With love and purpose, always.

Fernanda.