American democracy is facing a systemic crisis, and at Planet Detroit, we plan to fight for our democratic ideals by bringing you truthful, comprehensive, and intelligent reporting on local environmental and health issues. We believe in your right to be informed so that you can confidently vote and engage in your local government.
We commit to serving you. Here’s how we’ll do that:
Planet Detroit’s journalism focuses on the environment and public health – issues that are intrinsically shaped by our political systems. The people we vote into office make decisions that impact whether or not we emit more or less greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, allow more or less air pollution in our communities, and hold polluters accountable for their actions – or not.
Elected officials – and their appointees, staff and administrations – have enormous influence over whether or not we upgrade aging stormwater infrastructure to handle climate-driven floods, replace aging water service lines to reduce the risk of lead poisoning our drinking water, and have equitable access to affordable and reliable electric service. How government functions, the political process, and the integrity of elections are central.
Read all of Planet Detroit’s democracy coverage here.
We cover democracy through the lens of our readers’ issues – your issues – with a focus on equitable access to safe drinking water, clean air, healthy housing, green space, and clean and reliable power.
Planet Detroit’s coverage of democracy, politics, and government aims to center grassroots voices, hold power accountable, spotlight solutions and serve the community.
Here’s an explanation of our commitment to you as we enter this 2024 political season:
How will we choose what to cover (and what not to)?
Planet Detroit is a small and scrappy upstart news organization focusing on the environment and public health in the Detroit area. We are careful about allocating our limited reporting resources to ensure we meet our commitment to you.
You won’t see us covering the latest political scandal, nor will we engage in political “horse-race” coverage – feeding you the latest in the polls or who’s raised the most money.
You will find thoughtful coverage about how our government and political systems – at the federal, state, and local levels – impact the issues you care about. What might that look like?
- A close look at who is donating to candidates’ campaigns and whether those entities have an outsize influence on how much pollution and inequity our communities experience.
- Tracking and reporting on state legislation you care about – including what gets passed, what gets left behind, and how other legislatures tackle the same problems we face.
- Scrutinizing the actions of key state, federal and local regulatory agencies on air quality, permitting, electric and gas utilities and affordability, water quality, and permit decisions.
- Scrutinizing municipal government activities – both in terms of what they are doing to address climate change, what they are trying, what they fail to do, and what they may be ignoring.
- Solutions-oriented coverage about what is working in government – either here or in other locales that we might learn from.
- Addressing the stakes of a change in leadership at the federal level, what it could mean for climate action, how it could affect state climate and environmental policies, and what residents and states can do to defend democracy and the environment.
- Insights into elected officials and candidates’ voting records, personal histories and platforms on the environment and public health.
How will we make sure our reporting is factual and unbiased?
One of the greatest threats we face right now is our democracy itself – and the myriad factions seeking to sow disinformation and misinformation. Providing you with solid information on the issues you care about is foundational to our reporting approach.
Planet Detroit’s reporting is based on facts and data, including interviews and confirmation interviews, public meeting documents, public records and databases, academic research, and Freedom of Information Act requests. We fact-check all stories and publish corrections when necessary.
While we certainly have a strong point of view on the issues – we believe climate change is real and underserved communities deserve equitable access to a clean and healthy environment – we vet the claims of all sources, including advocacy, using independently verifiable information.
How will we make sure we center grassroots voices?
Political coverage that serves the elites, insiders and “political junkies” has little value for most of us. That’s why we strive to center grassroots voices in our reporting. Those who live in our communities and experience the impact of bad air quality, lead exposure, unaffordable and unreliable power, and vulnerability to the heat and floods that come with climate change are best positioned to inform our coverage – and to do our job, we need to know what they know and what they want to know about how their government works.
We will center grassroots voices in several ways:
- We will publish and update our Planet Detroit Environmental Voters Guide to help you understand the stakes at the ballot box.
- We will conduct regular reader surveys and in-person listening sessions to understand what our community cares about and their questions.
- We will conduct regular online forums on the issues you care about – giving you a chance to question the experts directly.
- We will partner with grassroots advocacy groups that have a pulse on their community needs to understand what issues they are seeing and what information gaps they have. Advocates don’t dictate our coverage, but they inform it and guide us to the issues our community cares about.
- We will identify gaps in understanding the process– the nuts and bolts of how government works – and help you understand it through guides so you can better engage.
- We will continue to make sure to include grassroots voices in our reporting – both as expert sources and as community reporters.
How can you contribute to our political coverage?
We’d love to hear from you. What questions do you have? Reach out to nina@planetdetroit.org