MLive journalists report and write tens of thousands of stories in a year, from local news to professional sports to weather and travel, and the majority of them are free for readers to enjoy.
But as any regular reader knows, we also put some of our best work – investigative journalism, data-informed reports, richly reported features – behind a paywall. It’s a benefit to our subscribers, but it’s also an important message to those who don’t subscribe: Readers who pay sustain our ability to do this kind of work.
Because of this dynamic, many of you may have missed important stories MLive published throughout 2024. In the spirit of the season, we’re going to remove the paywall on some of this work for a limited time.
Call it a “holiday sampler” of great journalism. If you like what you see, and want to fund similar work in 2025, check out our current digital subscription offers at this page. (If you prefer the online newspaper format for any of our eight titles, you can find offers here.)
To our current subscribers: Thank you for supporting this work in your communities and across Michigan.
Dangerous nursing homes: MLive found that the state of Michigan has not shut down nursing homes in violation of regulations for 18 years – despite the state being home to some of the worst facilities in the U.S. The reporting spurred the operator of one of the worst offenders to promise an inquiry into issues raised by our reporting.
Arsons consuming Flint: Built for a city of 200,000, Flint now is home to 80,000, meaning there are thousands of abandoned homes, storefronts, churches and schools. In turn, they are easy targets for arsons. MLive delved deep into this issue: Why is it happening? Who is doing it? And we also highlighted one possible path to a solution: What the city of Youngstown, Ohio, has done to reduce arsons.
Whitefish in decline: Our top-notch environmental reporting team examined depleted whitefish populations on the Great Lakes, and how that affects fisheries that depend on them. Evidence indicates that spawning grounds and young fish are being stressed by global climate warming, which is manifesting itself through gradual deep water warming, extreme weather increases and a decline in winter ice cover.
Gowns and towns, an uneasy dynamic: The University of Michigan started as a 40-acre campus in the middle of Ann Arbor in 1837. It has ballooned during the last 187 years to more than 1,700 acres in the city alone, according to university and city statistics. The university owns about 9% of city land, both city and university officials said, all of which is tax-exempt due to the university’s status as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
Adriana’s final hours: Also from our Ann Arbor newsroom came a meticulously reported, terribly sad account of Adriana Davidson, a 15-year-old who was missing for three days before her body was found on school property. An MLive review of records and interviews with those who knew her pieced together her last days and what led to the death.
This is but a brief cross-section of the vital and informative work our journalists deliver daily for subscribers. Come back next week and I’ll tell you some of the stories we plan to pursue in 2025, as well as plans to deepen our investment in topics you’ve told us are important to you.
# # #
