Submit a Voices column

Planet Detroit Voices is our space for commentary from people in Detroit and across Michigan who have something to say about the environment, climate, public health, and the places we live. We publish columns from residents, organizers, scientists, business owners, elected officials, and people who simply know their block better than anyone else.

We are looking for arguments grounded in experience and evidence. If you have a stake in an issue and can back up what you say, we want to hear from you.

What we publish

A Voices column makes a clear argument about an environmental, climate, or public health issue that affects Detroit or Michigan. The strongest columns come from people with direct knowledge: a resident living next to an industrial site, a nurse seeing the effects of heat on patients, a farmer dealing with flooding, an engineer who understands why a system failed.

We look for columns that:

• Take a position and defend it. A column is not a news story. Tell us what you think and why.
• Say something readers can’t get elsewhere. Personal experience, professional expertise, or local knowledge should drive the piece.
• Connect to Detroit or Michigan. National issues are fine if you show how they land here.
• Offer readers a next step. What should happen, and who can make it happen?

We do not publish columns that primarily promote a product, service, candidate, fundraiser, or organization. We also do not publish pieces that have already run elsewhere, including on personal blogs or LinkedIn.

Word count

Columns should run 600 to 800 words. Pieces that come in significantly over that will be sent back for trimming. Shorter is fine if you have said what you need to say.

How often you can submit

We publish one Voices column per author every three months. This applies to individuals and to organizations: if your group has already had a column run this quarter, a different staff member submitting on the same issue counts toward that limit. The goal is to keep the section open to a wide range of voices rather than a small set of frequent contributors.

If something urgent comes up before your three months are over, you can still pitch it. We will consider exceptions for time-sensitive columns where you have unique knowledge, but they are rare.

Verifiable facts

Every factual claim in your column must be verifiable. This is the most common reason we send columns back.

• Link your sources. When you cite a statistic, study, report, court filing, government document, or news story, include a link to the original. If a source is not online, tell us how we can check it.
• Prefer primary sources. Link to the EPA report, not to an article about the EPA report.
• Distinguish fact from opinion. You are free to argue that a policy is a failure. You are not free to say a facility violated its permit unless you can show us the violation notice.
• Be specific about what you know firsthand. “I have watched trucks idle outside my window every morning for three years” is a claim we can attribute to you. “Everyone in the neighborhood has asthma” is a claim we will ask you to support or cut.
• Expect fact-checking. Our editors will check your claims and may ask for additional documentation. Columns that cannot be verified will not run.

Editorial standards

Voices columns are edited to Planet Detroit’s standards. Here is what to expect.

• We edit. Every column goes through an editor for clarity, length, accuracy, and style. We will not change your argument, but we will tighten your prose and cut what does not serve it. You will see the edited version before publication.
• We follow AP style. You do not need to know it. We will handle it.
• No personal attacks. Criticize decisions, policies, records, and public statements. Do not attack people’s character, appearance, or private lives.
• No defamation. If you make a claim about a named person, company, or agency, it must be documented.
• No AI-generated drafts. We want your voice. Columns that read as machine-written will be returned.
• Accuracy is on you and on us. If a correction is needed after publication, we will run it, and we will note it on the column.

Disclosure

You must disclose any relationship that a reader would want to know about when weighing your argument. This includes:

• Employment, board service, or consulting with an organization connected to the issue
• Funding you or your organization receives from a party connected to the issue
• Involvement with a campaign, ballot initiative, lawsuit, or lobbying effort related to the column
• Financial interest in the outcome

Disclose these in your submission email, even if you are unsure they matter. We will decide with you what to include in the published byline or a note at the end of the column. Failure to disclose a relevant relationship is grounds for pulling a column after publication.

Compensation

Most Voices columns are unpaid. We make a small number of exceptions for commissioned pieces or contributors for whom writing is their livelihood. If that applies to you, say so in your pitch and we will discuss it before you write.

How to submit

Email your column or your pitch to Dustin Blitchok, managing editor, at dustin@planetdetroit.org with “Voices” in the subject line.

If you are sending a pitch, keep it to a paragraph: what is your argument, why are you the person to make it, and why now.

If you are sending a draft, include:

• The column, pasted into the body of the email or attached as a Word or Google Doc
• A one- or two-sentence bio: who you are and what your connection to the issue is
• Your disclosures (see above)
• A headshot, if you have one
• Links to sources for every factual claim

We aim to respond within one week. If your column is timely, say so in the subject line and we will try to move faster. If you do not hear back within two weeks, assume we are passing and feel free to place it elsewhere.

What happens next

If we accept your column, an editor will work with you on revisions. Most columns go through one or two rounds. Once you approve the edited version, we schedule it, publish it on planetdetroit.org, and share it in our newsletter and on social media.

You retain ownership of your work. By submitting, you give Planet Detroit the right to publish, edit, and distribute the column across our platforms and through our republishing partners.

Questions? Email dustin@planetdetroit.org.