Overview:

- Planet Detroit, a digital news outlet dedicated to climate, environment, and public health journalism, has secured a $500,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation to bolster climate journalism.
- This funding will enhance Planet Detroit's local reporting on climate change impacts in Detroit and Michigan communities.
- The grant is part of a larger $6 million initiative by the MacArthur Foundation to support independent newsrooms and critical climate and environmental reporting.

DETROIT, MI — Planet Detroit, a Metro Detroit-based digital news outlet focused on climate, environment, and public health journalism, is honored to announce it has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation as part of its strategic investment in climate journalism. The funding, granted through fiscal sponsor Michigan Environmental Council, will support Planet Detroit’s efforts to report on the complexities of climate change from a local lens, focusing on its impact on Detroit and Michigan communities.

This grant is part of a broader $6 million commitment by the MacArthur Foundation to strengthen the field of climate journalism in the United States. The Foundation’s funding will support independent newsrooms and organizations that produce critical climate and environmental reporting, helping to inform the public, promote accountability and highlight solutions to the climate crisis.

“With the new Trump administration scaling back federal commitments to climate resilience, local communities are being forced to take matters into their own hands,” said Nina Misuraca Ignaczak, Founder and Executive Editor of Planet Detroit. “As federal support diminishes, states and communities are leading efforts to build resilience  and ensure community safety. The need for independent, community-focused climate journalism has never been greater.”

Laprisha Berry Daniels, Executive Director of Planet Detroit, highlighted how the grant will help elevate community-driven solutions: “Detroiters are on the frontlines of climate change, from rising heat to flooding and air pollution. This funding will allow Planet Detroit to shine a light on the challenges our communities face while  also spotlighting innovative, community-led solutions that address the complexities of local conditions that place our communities at risk.”

Planet Detroit is committed to covering climate and environmental challenges through a solutions-focused, equity-driven lens. The grant will enable the newsroom to grow its capacity, deepen community engagement, and expand its reporting to better serve readers in Detroit and across Michigan.

The funding is part of the MacArthur Foundation’s Climate Solutions legacy commitment. As the Foundation winds down its Climate Solutions strategy after more than a decade of work, it is making strategic, one-time grants to strengthen climate journalism at the local and national levels.

The grant program also supports prominent climate journalism organizations such as Grist, Inside Climate News, Canary Media, and High Country News, as well as collaborative initiatives like Floodlight and the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk.

MacArthur Foundation President John Palfrey emphasized the urgency of climate reporting in announcing the grants: “We need more independent journalism focused on climate and clean energy issues, a more diverse field of reporters covering the story from communities most impacted by climate change, and more cross-newsroom collaborations to reach wider audiences and leverage shared resources.”

For more information about Planet Detroit and its work, visit www.planetdetroit.org.

About Planet Detroit

Planet Detroit is an award-winning independent newsroom dedicated to producing quality journalism on climate, equity, health, and environmental issues in Detroit and Southeast Michigan. Launched in 2019, Planet Detroit’s mission is to produce quality climate, equity, health, and environment journalism in the public interest that centers grassroots voices, holds power accountable, spotlights solutions, and serves the community.

Sign me up for Planet Detroit’s free weekly email newsletter

Give us your email, and we’ll give you our award-winning free weekly email newsletter on Fridays

Nina Misuraca Ignaczak is an award-winning Metro Detroit-based editor, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. She is the founder, publisher, and editor of Planet Detroit, a digital media startup focused on producing quality climate, equity, health, and environment journalism that centers grassroots voices, holds power accountable, and spotlights solutions. Planet Detroit has received awards and recognition from the Society for Professional Journalists Detroit, the Institute for Nonprofit News, and LION Publishers since its establishment in 2019. Prior to her journalism career, Nina worked in urban planning in local government and nonprofit sectors, holding a Master of Science in Natural Resource Ecology and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.