From the Executive Director:
More than 60 people joined BridgeDetroit on Tuesday evening for our “Meet the Reporters” event, offering insight into the communities where they live and the organizations that they work with.
I’ve been in journalism for 14 years and honestly have never had an experience quite like this. Residents and professionals from businesses across the city joined us for dinner and an open conversation on the things that matter to them. What we do right, what we do wrong and what we need to do more of.
Everyone came with open minds and open hearts.
We take this kind of engagement seriously – every suggestion helps as we set our coverage priorities for the coming year. We’re also in a fundraising year, so the feedback gives us goals to work toward that we can pitch to funders and donors alike.
Even though we are a newsroom of six full-time staffers and a small array of freelancers, I feel like BridgeDetroit does punch above its weight class in the quality of journalism we deliver. It’s not an accident: We have good people working with us and we have good people in this community who help guide us in the right direction for news that matters.
I also learned last night that many people aren’t familiar with how our funding model works. We are a nonprofit newsroom with much of our funding coming from foundations, but a portion of donations come from readers who choose to pay for our newsletters and other products. What this means is that something like a $5 one-time donation makes a huge difference to what we can do. And our monthly donors make sure that we can continue our work – and hold events like the one last night – beyond this year.
If you’re curious to learn more about what we do, why we do it and how we’re funded, check out our website.
Overall, I feel humbled to be able to play a role in this organization and to help serve our mission of serving you. And I am grateful to everyone who took the time to join us and help shape our future.
Thank you for your trust,
Laurén Abdel-Razzaq
PS. If you didn’t get a chance to join us for the event but want to offer story ideas or suggestions of what you’d like to see from BridgeDetroit, drop us a note at BridgeDetroit@BridgeDetroit.com or reach out with the form below:
