Outlier Media's founder Sarah Alvarez knew there were thousands of residents in Detroit whom no media was serving. The kind of news being produced by traditional news organizations was not useful, not relevant, not valuable.

Outlier Media was born as a service journalism organization dedicated to giving residents the high-value information they needed. Through deep community information needs assessments, Alvarez found that housing and utilities were the areas where Detroiters had the highest information gaps. Outlier delivers information daily via text message to residents to close the information gaps that persist around housing and utilities.

Join us on Sept. 27 for a day of sharing and learning with Outlier Media. This event is hosted by Outlier Media and the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University through the Peer Learning + Collaboration Fund.

The day will include a deep-dive into how Outlier Media works, open discussion with its founder and team, and a reporting bus tour to show attendees who Outlier is serving. Lunch will be provided.

There is no fee to attend, although a $25 deposit will be required as space is limited and some folks will be traveling from quite a ways to make the trip -- we can't have anyone taking a seat who won't show up. The deposit will be refunded the day after the event.

The Center for Cooperative Media is making available travel stipends for journalists who would otherwise not be able to attend this convening through the Peer Learning + Collaboration Fund. The deposit will be waived for Peer Fund award winners. Apply ASAP so you can get your grant before the trip! We strongly encourage newsrooms who have the funds to cover their staff’s travel costs.

Note that if you're applying for a travel award through the Peer Fund, you must do that AND reserve your spot via this EventBrite page. If you have any questions, contact Stefanie Murray at murrayst@montclair.edu.