Hi all,

The seasons of nature epitomize change, and as we move into fall, I’m excited to join the outstanding Issue Media Group team. Our solutions-based, issue-focused reporting is a vital part of the work we do here.

As the back-to-school season approaches, I want to highlight some of the journalism we’re doing around youth and education across the IMG network. This year, IMG teamed up with the Michigan After School Partnership (MASP) to elevate youth perspectives on after-school programs through our Voices of Youth initiative. Youth journalists have covered a wide range of topics, from advisory councils to climate change and entrepreneurship.

In Cincinnati, Soapbox’s Amplifying Youth Voices series focuses on youth mental health and community-based solutions. The series, underwritten by Interact for Health, seeks to advance health justice and community power.
Additionally, our reporting on Ann Arbor’s Freedom School in Concentrate shines a light on fostering literacy, leadership, and empowerment among youth.

By elevating young voices, we empower the next generation to overcome challenges and thrive.

Do you work with youth whose voices should be elevated to community members and policymakers? Let's talk about how we might partner.

Thanks for reading,
John Montgomery
CEO
Issue Media Group 

Inside IMG

Inside IMG monopoly

Michigan After School Partnership

This year IMG teamed up with the Michigan After School Partnership (MASP) to elevate youth perspectives on the value of after-school programs through our Voices of Youth program. MASP advocates for statewide access to quality and equitable after-school programs, to ensure that all children and youth succeed. The year-long series has included youth voices in multiple IMG communities, including Southwest Michigan’s Second Wave, Rapid Growth, and Concentrate.  Articles have focused on a wide range of after-school programs, including youth advisory councils, climate change events, and clubs focused on entrepreneurship. 

Inside IMG freedomschool

Freedom School

This summer, Concentrate hosted a special "Freedom School" edition of the Voices of Youth program in partnership with the Washtenaw Intermediate School District and Washtenaw My Brother's Keeper. Project Editor Aaron Foley and mentor Jaishree Drepaul worked with a group of about 10 young people in Ypsilanti twice a week for six weeks. The youth learned the basics of journalism, discussing how a newsroom works, how to construct a story, how to conduct interviews, and more. Participating youth were paid for completed work, which included a story and photography about video games' impact on young people and video of an interview the young people conducted.

Inside IMG amplifyingyouth

Interact for Health

In Soapbox Cincinnati, the Amplifying Youth Voices series raises awareness about youth mental health by reporting on community-based solutions. Stories and videos feature youth-serving grantees plus medical, nonprofit, education and philanthropic leaders. Grantees empowered youth to create change through projects and experiences providing them a voice that was seen, heard, and valued during a fast-paced timeline to initiate solutions. Amplifying Youth Voices is a pilot program from Interact for Health, a foundation serving a 20-county region to advance health justice. More healthcare organizations are coming together to respond to this challenge, testing with solutions-based processes and gathering data to determine a wider 10-year strategy. Solutions journalism reporting is an ideal match to explain, in a clear-eyed way, how local people are working together to solve a shared problem. Read the Amplifying Youth Voices series here. 

View More

Projects

Voices of Youth

On the Ground

Issue Media Group leverages the power of solutions-based + narrative storytelling in partnership with community-based leadership coalitions to increase attachment to place – a foundational element to inclusive economic growth – while delivering community response to local media contraction. 

Welcome

Welcome IMG Model | List Image

Our Mission & Model

Through a coalition of community partners, Issue Media Group publishes weekly journalism covering sustainability, transportation, arts and culture, talent, design, neighborhood growth and revitalization, small businesses and entrepreneurship, and social innovation.

Welcome Underwriting_List.jpg

Underwriting

Underwriting is the basis of our model as a publication. Support from underwriters allows IMG to dedicate editorial resources to cover key issue areas that are of importance to both the underwriter and IMG’s mission.

Welcome IMG | Teams

Our Teams

Issue Media Group, a local journalism leader, publishes weekly news thanks to our editorial leadership teams operating locally and our executive leadership team.  Meet our leadership team members.

View More
Copyright © Issue Media Group. All rights reserved.