Race and Justice Reporting Initiative

Our mini-grants support media coverage on racial justice issues in Detroit.

Meet our second cohort of reporting fellows

The Summer 2019 cohort will cover stories on inequitable development in Detroit.

The second cohort of our Race and Justice Reporting Initiative will cover stories on inequitable development in Detroit that demonstrate the unequal distribution of land and housing and a lack of community benefits, such as employment and skill training, which perpetuate the racial inequality of social and economic benefits of development.

Learn why we chose to focus on inequitable development.

This is a unique opportunity for print, radio, and video journalists to cover critical issues about the environment in Black, immigrant, or low-income communities.

Summer 2019 Cohort: Reporting on inequitable development in Detroit

Laura Herberg

Fiat Chrysler Plant Expansion in Detroit

[check out Laura's reporting series and our supporting materials on the issue below]

Kimberly Hayes Taylor

Why Detroit’s tool to force developers to invest in community is coming up short

Check out our reporting fellows' stories and our supporting materials:

Why Detroit’s tool to force developers to invest in community is coming up shortSome residents and members of city council feel the Community Benefits Ordinance isn’t working—and are proposing changes.

Detroit's East Side is Already Polluted. Will Fiat Chrysler Make It Worse?The impact area of FCA's Jefferson North assembly plant expansion has elevated levels of air pollution and asthma. Residents worry the company's emissions plan won't help.

Walking Beniteau Street in the Prelude to Fiat Chrysler's Plant ExpansionThe company is updating the Jefferson North Assembly Plant and converting the Mack Engine factory into an assembly plant. Residents have mixed feelings, remembering the change that previous projects have brought.

Costly incentives secured Detroit a new auto plant. Will Detroiters get the jobs? - MarketplaceDetroit officials have been trying to prepare residents to get jobs at the new plant.

Want One of FCA's 5,000 Promised Jobs? Get in LineThe city has a concerted effort underway to give more than 10,000 Detroiters a fighting chance at the jobs, but seekers will still have to jump through hoops and compete with union workers to get them.

Detroit's east side currently has illegal levels of ozone in the air. Despite this, Fiat Chrysler is building an assembly plant in the region and is, in part, meeting EPA standards by reducing emissions at a nearby plant in Warren. Not in Detroit.

So how does increasing pollution impact the people of Detroit? Check out our infographic on environmental racism and our research dossier on asthma in Detroit.

RESEARCH DOSSIER: Asthma in Detroit

The grants supporting our Race and Justice Reporting Initiative were made possible by the Knight Foundation, Ford Foundation and Community Foundation For Southeast Michigan.