Just so I don’t bury the lede here: this is a fundraising ask. And a promise I will make to readers up front is that fundraising asks from Flint. Daily. will be rare. In fact, we only plan to do one per year, so you won’t hear from us again asking for money until 2027. The fact that so many people have shared email addresses and subscribed to our weekly newsletter since we launched last August means the world to us, and we in no way want to be one of those publications that abuses that trust by constantly sending out solicitations. We are grateful for the steadily increasing readership we’ve built in a short amount of time, and hungry to provide more local news coverage about the city we love.
What We’re Building
So far, Flint. Daily. has operated solely as a volunteer endeavor by a few friends and I who all strongly believe that local news is vital to a thriving community. In fact, I’d argue that the lack of access to good sources of news and information in communities all over the country is a public health crisis.
Our goals are clear but not easy: we want to be a consistent, trustworthy, unapologetically honest news source run by people who live in and are invested in the city alongside our neighbors here. In a short amount of time, there are some things I’m immensely proud of:
- We’ve provided some needed local sports coverage that has been missing for years;
- We regularly cover the grassroots activists whose passion, voices, and vision are pushing for resident-led positive change in a variety of ways;
- We’ve showcased the immense artistic talent in Flint in every genre from theatre to food to music to visual art to dance to comedy to mixology;
- We’ve published work from some of the city’s youngest writers;
- We regularly translate news into Spanish for our Spanish-speaking neighbors.
Truthfully, I hate any part of any endeavor that I’m a part of that requires celebrating accomplishments. I thrive when I fly under the radar and I’m my own biggest hater, it keeps me motivated. But there’s so much work that I’m proud of since Flint. Daily. launched, and I do want to celebrate that.
The problem is that in every category I’ve listed above, the only truth that is unveiled is there’s so much more work to do. And there are also more untapped categories that desperately need more attention in Flint: more in-depth coverage of local government; more detailed reporting on education, healthcare, labor, and economic development. More coverage that reflects how distinctive and cool each of our neighborhoods are. Really, just MORE.
What We’re Asking For And How We’ll Use It
We have a modest goal. We’re hoping to raise $3,000. Donations can be made online – just hit the donate button.
A promise we can make to readers: every dollar invested into Flint. Daily. will be re-invested directly back into the editorial product. It won’t go to out of town management or publications. It won’t pay for a building or marketing or parties – hell, I don’t even run Facebook ads, which probably isn’t smart but I hate the idea of giving that company money.
For our first campaign, we will use the money to pay a few website and technology-related fees to keep the site up and running, and use the rest to commission stories from a few local writers. I actually have several stories in mind, and writers and photojournalists I would love the chance to work with, whose voices I would love to include in our publication. Any money raised beyond the small web fees would go directly to Flint creators.
My personal passion for this project is enough to keep me grinding at it. But I’m also at max capacity. I have a full-time non-journalism job, and I gotta stay in good standing there so I don’t get my lights cut off (Consumers had me on the brink this winter, honestly). I also love coaching my kids’ basketball teams, going to their games and band concerts, trash talking the neighborhood kids who show up to hoop in my driveway, and going to see every late 1990s nostalgia act that comes through the Machine Shop (we got Wheatus coming up in August!) with my partner. So some additional funding will allow us to add more coverage and not turn me into an absent dad/husband.
Why We’re Launching This Today
Today is the first-ever Local News Day, a national day of action connecting communities with trusted local news. The mission is actually similar to the reasoning behind my launch of Flint. Daily. last August: there is a desperate shortage of local news and information as newspapers have dwindled over the last two decades. Local News Day is about helping people reconnect to their local outlets, helping newsrooms grow, and creating more support that keeps the vital industry alive and allows it to reinvent itself in a world often filled with A.I. slop, information that lacks credibility, and other trust-killing threats to news.
Check out the Local News Day newsroom locator to find more participating news organizations.
What You’ll Get
I should say that we’re not going anywhere. I hope this is a wildly successful fundraiser, but even if it isn’t we will continue in our efforts to prove ourselves to the community. But, if it is even a modest success, the number one thing you’ll get is fully local news stories every day on our website and every week in your inbox.
We also want to show our gratitude. The masthead on this site was created by Oliver Hayes, a young Flint artist in the portfolio development program at the Flint Institute of Arts. (Yes, he’s my son, yes, that makes him a nepo baby.) He only reads Flint. Daily. for the dog pics though. He has kindly offered to sign 100 custom prints of his work, seen in the photo, that we will mail to the first 100 people who donate $30 or more.
If You Can’t, That’s Okay!
I hate sending out a fundraising email in the midst of everyone asking for money and no one having any. There are certainly more pressing basic and emergency needs, mutual aid funds, and other causes that are worthy, and we are all feeling pressure to support more of the things we care about with limited resources in an economic climate where everything is getting more expensive by the day.
So, anyone who can give, I’m beyond humbled by it and will steward those contributions in ways that shine a light on our community. And anyone who can’t, I totally understand. But there are other ways to help if you’d like to.
The biggest is sharing our email subscription link in your personal network. The single greatest asset any publication has in this current moment is a healthy email list. If you’d be willing to not only suggest people subscribe, but share any personal reasons you enjoy Flint. Daily., that would make a tremendous impact on our ability to grow. If you’re willing to share those on your social platforms, you can tag us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Bluesky. Word of mouth is still the most formidable way that any business grows. If you like what we do, and are willing to tell people why, please share and encourage people to subscribe to our emails.
And it’s also okay if you just want to lurk, read, and let us prove and fulfill our mission more. We’re going to continue the work, and we’re going to continue to be grateful for our readers. Local journalism builds community, we take that responsibility seriously, and we’re going to do everything we can to reflect how proud we are to be Flint residents in our coverage. Thank you for reading.
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