Overview:

- Planet Detroit joins the 2025 Total Newsroom Training cohort, a program by Investigative Reporters & Editors aimed at bolstering watchdog journalism in smaller newsrooms.
- The initiative will deliver two days of tailored investigative journalism training, concentrating on public records access, data journalism, and best practices for covering climate, health, and environmental justice.

Planet Detroit is one of seven newsrooms nationwide selected for the 2025 Total Newsroom Training cohort, a program run by Investigative Reporters & Editors to strengthen watchdog journalism in small and midsize news organizations.

The competitive, grant-funded program will bring two days of intensive, customized investigative journalism training to Planet Detroit’s newsroom later this year.

Training topics will include public records access, data journalism, and best practices for covering climate, health, and environmental justice issues.

“This is a huge opportunity for our newsroom,” said Planet Detroit Editor and Founder Nina Ignaczak.

“We’re building capacity to dig deeper into the environmental and public health issues impacting Detroit and Michigan. The TNT training will help us sharpen our tools, especially around data and investigative reporting, so we can hold power accountable and better serve our communities.”

This year marks the 12th round of IRE’s TNT program. IRE Executive Director Diana R. Fuentes said the selected newsrooms stood out from a record number of applicants for their commitment to impactful journalism.

“Each of the newsrooms chosen will be getting the best in data analysis and investigative journalism training they want and need,” said Fuentes. “IRE’s goal is to help journalists produce stories that change lives in the communities they serve. That’s what democracy is all about.”

Planet Detroit was chosen alongside:

  • Uvalde Leader-News (Uvalde, Texas)
  • Borderless Magazine (Chicago)
  • Prism Reports (Virtual)
  • Bangor Daily News (Bangor, Maine)
  • Capital B News (National; Atlanta; Gary, Indiana)
  • Them (New York)

Dustin Blitchok, Planet Detroit’s managing editor, said the program will help the outlet take its journalism to the next level.

“Planet Detroit has always been committed to elevating underreported stories at the intersection of climate, health, and equity,” said Blitchok. “IRE’s training will strengthen our ability to do hard-hitting, data-driven reporting that holds institutions accountable and informs solutions.”

Founded in 2019, Planet Detroit is a nonprofit newsroom focused on public service journalism in the areas of climate, health, and environmental justice. Its team has earned multiple honors for its reporting, including awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Institute for Nonprofit News.

Learn more about IRE’s Total Newsroom Training program: https://www.ire.org/training/total-newsroom-training

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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, health, and environment journalism that 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.