About

The city of Flint was — and is — integral to the development of the United States as we know it. Some of the most influential inventors, leaders, artists, educators, athletes, entertainers, entrepreneurs, and thinkers were born right here in Flint. That spirit of creativity truly exists and continues to expand to this day.

Our job at Flintside is to authentically tell those stories — to center the people who embody the talent, hustle, culture, and resilience that make Flint one of the strongest, closest-knit, and enduring communities anywhere. We specialize in neighborhood-level journalism — stories told by Flint people about Flint people.
 

Flintside’s ambitious role is to tell the unending supply of stories about the inspirational people here who make our neighborhoods better, our business community prosperous, our education institutions thrive, and our city shine.
Please share story suggestions with us at editor@flintside.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, which is distributed every Wednesday.

Flintside is an award-winning weekly online news magazine published by Issue Media Group. Our first issue was published on March 3, 2017. Our news coverage is supported by generous community partners, who underwrite coverage of topic areas that include business and entrepreneurship, education, neighborhoods, public health, arts and culture, and recreation.
Our current funders are: The Ruth Mott Foundation; The Community Foundation of Greater Flint; 100K Ideas, Hamilton Community Health Network; Genesee County Parks; The United Way of Genesee County; Genesee Intermediate School District; the Flint Institute of Arts, and the Flint & Genesee Group.
Underwriters help support our mission, but do not influence coverage — our staff maintains editorial independence. If you are a potential funder or partner interested in supporting our work and mission, please email editor@flintside.com.

Masthead

Current Contributing Writers: Brianna Nargiso, Jarielle Tasha Nettles, Dezha Peterson, Jeff Piechowski, Xzavier Simon, and Sarah Spohn.

Current Contributing Photographers: Anthony Summers, Bryce Mata, Ray Gray, Mike Powell, and Travis Ricketts.

Founding Editor: Marjory Raymer

Emeritus Editors: Xandr Brown, Patrick Hayes

How to Pitch Us Freelance Stories

Flintside receives valuable contributions from a network of talented freelance writers, photographers, and videographers. We encourage anyone interested in contributing articles, personal essays, photos, videos, social media projects, or any other creative method of storytelling on a topic related to the city of Flint to email editor@flintside.com with a pitch describing the story you want to tell, how you plan to tell it, and why you think our audience will be interested. If you are looking for examples of the types of stories we run, below are some pieces we’ve loved.
 

• This in-depth photo story by Xandr Brown, examining what has kept residents in their northside neighborhood for generations.
• This historical deep dive by Marjory Raymer, detailing the history of Flint’s Civic Park neighborhood.
• This sports feature by Patrick Hayes that has a new, fresh take on a well-known Flint topic, the city’s basketball history.
• Pieces on historic Flint businesses, like this one by Ashley Schafer on James Lumber or this one by Jenifer Veloso on Luigi’s restaurant, highlighting the things that have kept longtime businesses in the community for generations.
• This essay by Tia Scott, chronicling a trip back to Flint and the changes — and hope — she saw after she’d moved away. We love to run personal essays on a variety of topics. See more examples here.
• This feature by Xzavier Simon, about how a Flint native is carving out his own niche and identity on a global stage in the world of dance.
• This photo story by Jenifer Veloso, looking at some of the Latinx leaders in Flint and the challenges the city’s Spanish-speaking community faces.
• This interview with a local accountant by Patrick Hayes, sharing tips that residents — particularly low-income residents — may find helpful during tax season. We accept pitches on a wide range of subjects for Q and A-style stories. See more examples here.

Awards

Flintside’s editorial team won six awards in the 2020 Michigan Press Association Better Newspaper Contest. Individual awards are listed below.

Best Website, third place, Flintside	Sports Feature: Patrick Hayes, first place, “Flint native imparting global basketball knowledge to Mott players”
Feature Story: Marjory Raymer and Xandr Brown, second place, “The ruralization of Flint’s Civic Park neighborhood”	Business/Agriculture News: Marjory Raymer, second place, “New hotel in downtown Flint symbolizes city’s comeback”
Best Editorial: Xandr Brown, third place, “Say its name”	Spot News: Santiago Ochoa, honorable mention, “Sewing for Safety: Flint’s Shay Oliver and friends craft homemade face masks for health workers”

Flintside’s editorial team won nine awards in the 2019 Michigan Press Association Better Newspaper Contest. Individual awards are listed below.

Best Website, first place, Flintside	Feature Story, Xandr Brown, first place, “Working 2 jobs, graduating valedictorian, and never giving up — this Flint kid is headed to Stanford”
Sports Feature, Patrick Hayes, first place, “Flintstones carving a new path to the NBA — as writers”	Photo Story, Mike Naddeo, first place, “A look back at Alley Fest 2019”
Columnist, Patrick Hayes, second place, “A world-class education, right here in Flint”	Government/Education News, Xandr Brown, third place, “Genesee County grads nab more than $30 million in scholarships”
Business/Agriculture News, Jake Carah, third place, “Spectacular Spudz nabs Business of the Year Award”	Sports Feature, Patrick Hayes, third place, “They’re scrappy, determined, and kicking butt: Flint City Bucks to host a final four match”
Government/Education News, Jake Carah, honorable mention, “See inside the $1 million investment cleaning up Flint’s northside”