Issue Media Group’s flagship publication was born of Boyle and Schutt’s frustration with a lack of coverage of emerging neighborhoods, projects, dynamic people, and entrepreneurs against a backdrop of Detroit’s “brain drain”. Model D was launched in 2005, with support from a coalition of visionary urban developers, anchors institutions with deep roots in the city, and service organizations providing support to new residents and businesses. Model D quickly established itself as an important new voice and media model, particularly as traditional media began a steep decline.
Embracing a solutions journalism approach to reporting, Model D was one of the first publications in the nation to embrace the style of storytelling. Now a rapidly growing field, solutions journalism focuses on rigorously reporting on what’s working, rather than a conflict-driven news style that’s currently losing audience at unprecedented rates.
Model D has served as a key center of innovation and product development for IMG, including Speaker Series events, Urban Innovation Exchange, On The Ground, Resilient Neighborhoods, Non-Profit Journal Project, Block by Block, Voices of Youth, Start-Up Story Night, and Community Correspondent programs. The award-winning team regularly garners recognition at the Society for Professional Journalism’s Excellence in Journalism awards and boasts editors and journalists who have bylines at NPR, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.
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