Bridge Michigan is a

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

-based nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization founded in 2011 that focuses on

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

. It is headquartered in Ypsilanti, Michigan and has offices in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

and

Lansing Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, makin ...

History

The Center for Michigan, founded by Philip and Kathy Power and a

bipartisan Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing political parties find co ...

steering committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

, hired John Bebow as an

investigative reporter Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

in 2006. For the

2010 Michigan gubernatorial election The 2010 Michigan gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm was prohibited by the state's Constitution from seeking a third term. This resulted in a large pool of candidates which was w ...

, the center created the Michigan Truth Squad and a year later, launch Bridge Magazine based on the existing Truth Squad. By 2018,

ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit organization based in New York City. In 2010, it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize, for a piece written by one of its journalists''The Guardian'', April 13, 2010P ...

began to partner with Bridge Michigan. For the

2018 Michigan gubernatorial election Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, Bridge Michigan organized a Truth Squad to monitor the comments made by candidates at the time. During the COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan, Bridge Michigan partnered with ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...

'' and

Chalkbeat Chalkbeat is a non-profit news organization that covers education in several American communities. Its mission is to "inform the decisions and actions that lead to better outcomes for children and families by providing deep, local coverage of ed ...

to track $6 billion of federal funding for education in Michigan.

Reception

''The Blade'' described Bridge Michigan as "a well-regarded online publication that covers state issues". In 2017, Bridge Michigan and reporter Chastity Pratt Dawsey were awarded during The Matrix Awards the "Vanguard Award" for ''Poison on Tap'', that the ''

Michigan Chronicle ''The Chronicle'' is a weekly African-American newspaper based in Detroit, Michigan. It was founded in 1936 by John H. Sengstacke, editor of the ''Chicago Defender''. Together with the ''Defender'' and a handful of other African-American newspap ...

'' described as "the first comprehensive book about the Flint water crisis". In 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, Bridge Michigan won multiple awards, including the "Weekly/News Media Publication Class A Newspaper of the Year" as part of the Michigan Press Associations ''Better Newspaper'' awards. For the ''2018 MPA Better Newspaper'', Bridge Michigan also won "The Best FOIA Story Award" for a report on how the Governor

Rick Snyder Richard Dale Snyder (born August 19, 1958) is an American business executive, venture capitalist, attorney, accountant, and politician who served as the 48th governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Snyder previo ...

's officials worked beside

Enbridge Enbridge Inc. is a multinational pipeline and energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Enbridge owns and operates pipelines throughout Canada and the United States, transporting crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. ...

lobbyists and employees to promote

Enbridge Line 5 Enbridge Line 5 is a 30-inch 645-mile oil pipeline in the Enbridge Lakehead System, which conveys petroleum from western Canada to eastern Canada via the Great Lakes states since 1953. Line 5 is particularly notable for passing under the enviro ...

after reviewing emails revealed upon a

Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act * ...

request. In the ''2021 MPA Better Newspaper Contest'', Bridge Michigan won "The Best FOIA Story Award" for its reporting that law enforcement officials, specifically Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf, attempted to assist

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

with his

attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election After Joe Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election, then-incumbent Donald Trump pursued an unprecedented effort to overturn the election, with support and assistance from his campaign, proxies, political allies, and many of ...

References

2011 establishments in Michigan American news websites Internet properties established in 2011 Mass media in Michigan Non-profit organizations based in Michigan Ypsilanti, Michigan {{news-website-stub

History

Reception

See also

References