About Model D

Model D is an award-winning digital news magazine, and Detroit institution, focused on the dynamic communities, businesses, and residents of Detroit, Michigan. We cover what's next in entrepreneurship, creative culture, and urban development in and around the city, and are part of the Issue Media Group family.

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Meet the Model D team, and contact us here:


Kate Roff, managing editor
Kate Roff is an award-winning freelance writer and journalism educator, currently based out of Detroit. She is the managing editor of Metromode and Model D, and a special lecturer at Oakland University. You can reach out to her here.
 
Mike Galbraith, news editor
If the name sounds familiar you might recognize it from his byline in our sister Urban Innovation Exchange publication. Galbraith has also contributed stories to the University Research Corridor, Workforce Intelligence Network, and Mode Shift. Galbraith is also a singer-songwriter who has performed in area coffee houses, pubs, and music venues, including the Lager House and the Old Miami. If you have a development news tip for Galbraith, drop him a line here.

Contributors:
Nina IgnaczakPatrick DunnDavid SandsSarah WilliamsErin Marie MillerGreg Tasker, Melinda Clynes, Ellen Piligian, Biba AdamsRandiah Camille Green, Kahn Santori Davison, Kyla Wright, Sam Corey, Leah Olajide 
 
Nick Hagen, managing photographer
Nick is a Detroit-based portrait and documentary photographer interested in showcasing the world in the most objective and truthful way possible. His work has been commissioned both nationally and internationally. His professional and personal photography can be viewed here. Follow him on Instagram @nickhagenphoto for pictures of funny signs.

Photography Contributors:
David LewinskiDoug CoombeJoe PowersSteve KossValaurian Waller, Rosa Maria Zamarron

Social Media: Chrishelle Griffin, Lauren Reid, Madeline Mason, Cayla Smith
 
Emeritus Editors and Editors-at-Large: Dorothy Hernandez, Nina Ignaczak, Biba Adams

AWARDS

From the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Detroit Chapter’s 2020 Excellence in Journalism awards:
  • First place, community/local news reporting - Kate Roff, Melinda Clynes, Ellen Piligian, Greg Tasker, and Erin Miller for their reporting in Model D’s ‘Building Communities’ series;
  • Second place, consumer/watchdog/investigative reporting - Kate Roff for her story covering minority contractors in Detroit;
  • Third place, feature reporting - Kate Roff for her reporting in Model D’s ‘Detroit Innovation’ series;
  • Honorable mention, feature reporting - Dorothy Hernandez for her story chronicling key places and moments in Detroit’s racial history.
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Model D is published by Issue Media Group. Incorporated in 2005 in Detroit, Michigan, IMG operates a national network of online media outlets leveraging the power of solutions-based journalism to report on community change. Our publications aim to connect readers to their communities’ most visionary and innovative people, projects, businesses, and organizations – fostering civic capacity, improving understanding of key issues, amplifying underserved voices, and building community attachment during a time of local media decline. 
 
We work with like-minded stakeholders across public, private, nonprofit, and grassroots organizations whose values and missions align with ours through an underwriting model of publishing.  Our journalists connect with community stakeholders through regular listening sessions designed to build trust and shape authentic community stories.
 
IMG's work has been recognized and supported by leading journalism organizations nationally including INC Magazine, Knight Foundation, Columbia Journalism Review, Facebook, Lenfest Institute, Google, Solutions Journalism Network, Ground Source, and Society for Professional Journalists.



Michigan Assets 
Issue Media Group’s Michigan footprint of 18 local online community news sites is grounded in cross-sector stakeholder coalitions comprised of leadership in foundations, nonprofits, government and municipalities, education, community and economic development, health, entrepreneurship, and workforce development. Through regular community listening sessions, these leadership coalitions help guide relevant community-informed coverage, increase local audience engagement and ensure influential readership networks.   
 
All Michigan content is published through a growing network of sites that include: Detroit’s Model D, Grand Rapids Rapid Growth, Metro Detroit’s Metromode, Ann Arbor / Ypsilanti’s Concentrate, Kalamazoo / Battle Creek’s Second Wave Southwest, Flint’s Flintside, Port Huron’s The KeelCatalyst Midland, Route Bay City, Epicenter Mount Pleasant, UPword in the Upper Peninsula, and Rural Innovation Exchange covering Michigan's rural community. Every week, Second Wave is published to a statewide audience featuring a listing of top stories from across IMG’s network of sites. Current Michigan assets include over 120 community partners, 80 journalists, 4.6 million annual readers, 280,000 emails, and 213,000 social media followers.

Detroit's Model D: www.modeldmedia.com 
Second Wave (statewide):  www.secondwavemedia.