Frank Beckmann Center For Journalism Raises First Million, Sees Enormous Impact

The Frank Beckmann Center for Journalism has raised its first million dollars. This gets us one- third of the way toward our goal of $3 million, all of which will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a generous donor.

The Beckmann Center houses our impact journalism arm, Michigan Capitol Confidential. It’s also home to the “Mackinac on Michigan” radio show on WJR and our journalism interns, who learn how to generate and produce stories. Our transparency initiatives, which include filing hundreds of Freedom of Information Act requests every year, also take place there.

In the first six months of the Frank Beckmann Center for Journalism, our team has accomplished the following:

• Aired seven radio shows with 25 guests, including three candidates for governor, leaders in the state House and Senate, congressional candidate John James, education expert Corey DeAngelis, and a variety of reporters and Mackinac Center policy staff.


• Filed three lawsuits against insufficient government transparency, with more in the works. One client, Carol Beth Litkouhi, is a mom in Rochester who appeared on “Fox & Friends,” where she discussed her efforts to find out what is being taught in her school district.


• Published more than 200 articles at Michigan Capitol Confidential to hold governments accountable.


• Hired two interns, Genevieve O’Gara and Gabriel Powell. Genevieve has written more than 20 news articles, including breaking stories about Michigan’s Certificate-of-Need law that kept one hospital from expanding. She also examined diversity, equity and inclusion programs at a dozen public schools. Gabriel has filed nearly 1,000 public records requests and collected data for a study comparing how well (or poorly) state agencies respond to open records requests.


• Doubled our advertising spending and expanded our email lists, all to reach as many people as possible with the work described above.

We couldn’t be more thankful for those who have supported our mission of promoting government transparency and impact journalism. You can learn more about these efforts and have your financial gift matched at www.FBCFJ.com.