Hey, friend…
It’s bittersweet writing to you in this way. I want to acknowledge the support I’ve received since leaving Axios. When you tell me I am your favorite journalist, it feels weird without my byline appearing above a story.
That’s why I’m starting a new journalism project called Detroit one million.
I want to answer this question in a way that brings life to the past while looking ahead. The stories here won’t be limited to the population question, but will focus on Detroit’s vibrant past and how it connects to the competing forces shaping its future. Michigan has a young person crisis. There are too few jobs available that allow us to dream for something bigger.
It has been humbling to be approached by editors from outside the state asking me to apply for positions that would mandate a move in the days after I was laid off. Doing so would be costly, but more than just financially. Detroit and the state are at unique points in history. Mayor Mike Duggan said in an address to public appointees and employees last month that cars are no longer Michigan’s greatest export — it’s young people. He’s right.
My reporting on Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s failed population council last year is the template for covering the city of Detroit’s ideas to create a community young people want to be part of. I hope to be able to continue this project as the new mayor is elected in November 2025.
Having a pulse on any community only happens by having honest conversations with real people from all walks of life. Doing so the last six months was one of the reasons I was able to accurately predict (off by 333 votes) the total number of votes president-elect Donald Trump received throughout the city in this year’s general election.
From students to service workers, emerging artists and burgeoning professionals, young people are wrestling for influence inside their respective fields. Supporting me for this project means giving a voice to Detroiters who historically have been left out of the fold, told to “wait their turn,” or perpetually sidelined. I represent the people at the margins and fringes I’ve pushed hard to include in my reporting for corporate newsrooms.
Losing the job I was invited to apply for has been the most frustrating experience of my life. I feel ashamed, like I let down my mom. My parents live in a house with a roof that leaks when it rains. My former colleagues at Axios do not. I couldn’t afford to make a wrong decision when I chose to leave MLive – my first job – to take a chance on a startup journalism outlet. I can count on one hand the number of colleagues I’ve had that share my place on the economic ladder. And while I don’t wish poverty on myself or anyone, it has shaped my perspective and has helped inform the dogged reporting you love.
Your support helped me lead our local website in page views since I joined the newsletter in May of 2022. There were only a few months that my byline wasn’t the most read among our three person team. The people who have been sharing my stories since I was the editor at Western Michigan’s student newspaper have meant so much to me — I can’t put into words how much I value every single interaction. The visibility you’ve given me helped earn me a pay increase in May of 2023. The same month my rent increased. You can imagine my frustration after moving in with a roommate in July of this year, glad to be saving money every month, only to lose my job one month later.
In our industry, it doesn’t matter how good you are at your job, but how much you are liked by people with power. I have never cared about them as much as I care about you, the reader, the public. It is my goal to offer a product you want to pay for.
Axios hired journalists giving them the title of “newsletter author.” Leaders put an emphasis on halting behaviors required to be an effective local beat reporter because of the amount of time it takes. Solutions frequently involved taking the easy way out in hopes of maximizing engagement. The truth was, other than this sardine mukbang, my cutesy, first-person POV stories were rarely viewed more than the politics stories I covered. Politics is the most engaged and interactive audience for Axios Detroit. I pushed to give people what they were telling me they wanted — original local politics coverage.
We quickly learned there isn’t enough time in the day to be a reporter and a daily newsletter author. My former colleagues know this and care to varying degrees. Many don’t since they are seasoned journalists who have had nothing to prove since the 90s. I cared a lot, seeing that I somehow still have to prove myself to skeptical Michigan news leaders.
So, without their support, I am asking for yours.
Sam
Man, I feel your story deeply. When it comes to who is going to turn the tides for our state we need only look in the mirror. I took a $20k pay cut to come home because if not us then who? If not now then when? When the hours grow long and reality is sad as shit, I hope you find community in those committed to persisting. You bring me some peace knowing there’s others making the same calculations I have. Here’s to a Detroit where our kids don’t have to choose. Fuck, here’s to a Detroit where kids don’t freeze to death too. 🥂