5 takeaways:

➀ Access to Information is still a huge challenge. Outlier Media was founded in 2016 as a way to help Detroiters connect to resources like housing, utilities and medical assistance, Detroit Free Press Breaking News Reporter Miriam Marini told Widening the Pipeline fellows. [Transcript | Video]  Journalist Sarah Alvarez launched the outlet to give residents practical information by identifying their needs and connecting them with resources as the starting point for finding stories that matter. “One of the biggest foundations of Outlier is giving the people more than we’re taking from them, and not necessarily always looking at things in the perspective of ‘This is going to get great clicks,’” she said.

➁ Texting opens windows to information. Outlier journalists develop story ideas based on a free text-messaging service for Detroit area residents. By texting the word “Detroit” to 67485, residents receive a quick briefing about Outlier and options for the topic they need information or help with. If they don’t want to navigate the texting service, they can just contact a reporter directly, Marini said.

➂ Listening to residents produces results. Marini described the impact of SMS reporting by sharing the story of a woman who’d received an eviction notice though she was current in her rent payments and had spent thousands of dollars on home repairs. After investigating, the reporter uncovered a scam where people are approached by someone claiming to be the landlord or property manager collecting the rent, but who actually have no connection to the property. After the Outlier story ran, the Michigan attorney general issued a consumer alert and an anonymous reader paid for the woman’s home.

➃ Service journalism can force action. An Outlier Media investigation helped Detroiters affected by historic flooding. An estimated 40,000 insurance claims were on hold as an investigation attempted to determine if damage was due to record rainfall or flaws in city and regional water systems. People were simply abandoning homes affected by mold and damage because they couldn’t afford to fix them.  “It could have been a feel-good heartwarming, ‘Oh, nonprofits are helping residents to get water heaters or get furnaces or replace their washes and dryers’ story,” Marini said. “But instead it shifted it to, ‘Why is this happening? Why are these authorities who were in charge of this not stepping up?’”

➄ Citizens can help in the accountability process. Detroit Documenters is another Outlier Media program that pays residents to attend public meetings and take notes on them. Those notes are edited by journalists and editors, then published for public viewing. Marini said the citizen journalists provide rich detail, including public comments, votes on resolutions and expenditures. She believes this approach helps media organizations focus less on competition and more on the public good. “It’s really shifted my perspective on the news ecosystem and how we can change the future of journalism,” Marini said.

Speaker: Miriam Marini, Outlier Media Correspondent and Detroit Free Press Breaking News Reporter

The Widening the Pipeline Fellowship is sponsored by the Evelyn Y. Davis Foundation, Bayer, J&J and Twitter. NPF is solely responsible for the content.