How This Detroit Innovator Is Reimagining Information as Civic Infrastructure

Candice Fortman is right: we can’t talk about building more just and equitable cities without talking about how people are getting the information they need to create change in their own communities.

This is Fortman’s passion at Outlier Media, a Detroit-based service journalism organization where her vision is to “create a radically new future by deeply planting news and information as a spoke in the wheel of civic infrastructure.”

In this episode of Urban Consulate Confidential featuring Black city-builders across the U.S., host Orlando P. Bailey sits down with Fortman at The Cochrane House in Detroit for a candid conversation about why news matters, who is underrepresented in news production, and how she is working to change that.

Watch the episode here:

Candice Fortman is the executive director for Outlier Media, a Detroit-based service journalism organization that identifies, reports, and delivers valuable information to empower residents to hold landlords, municipal government, and elected officials accountable. Fortman helps drives their work to build a sustainable newsroom that challenges traditional models by centering the highest information needs of Detroiters. Fortman has worked for 15 years in commercial and non-profit media, leading marketing, engagement and growth strategy for WDET 101.9-Detroit’s NPR station and Clear Channel Radio (now iHeart Media). She is a 2021 alumna of The John S. Knight Fellowship at Stanford University, where she studied how the business model of journalism impacts low-wealth communities. Fortman sits on the board of Cityside, which operates Berkeleyside and The Oaklandside in California, and serves as an advisory board member for OpenNews, which connects developers, designers, journalists and editors to collaborate on open technologies and processes within journalism. She also hosts News Guest, a podcast that explores local newsroom sustainability.

Fortman is a lifelong Detroiter with a deep commitment to the city and its people. She has served on several local boards, including The Village of Bethany Manor, a subsidized senior living community, The Detroit Symphony Orchestra Classical Roots Steering Committee, and the Grandmont Community Association.

Watch the full episode here.

Urban Consulate brings people together to share ideas for more just and equitable communities. This episode of Urban Consulate Confidential was filmed by Afrochine at The Cochrane House in Detroit and made possible thanks to support from the Ford Foundation. To learn more, visit UrbanConsulate.com and follow @UrbanConsulate.

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Urban Consulate brings people together to share ideas for better cities. Urban Consulate Confidential is presented with Next City and made possible by the Ford Foundation.