Guest Commentary
At Bridge, we believe in listening to voices from all over our state. Got something to say? Contact us and join the conversation (details below)
How to submit a Guest Commentary
What to know:
Bridge Magazine welcomes a diversity of voices and perspectives from readers on issues important to Michigan. Guest commentaries reflect the views of the author(s), and are independent of the nonpartisan, fact-driven reporting of Bridge’s newsroom staff.
Commentaries must be the author’s original work and preferably will not have appeared first in other publications. Bridge reserves the right to decline submissions at our discretion.
We reserve the right to edit commentary for grammar, clarity, brevity or to address legal or factual concerns. We may offer editing suggestions, but in the service of making your work more accessible, not to alter your views.
We do not pay for guest commentary.
Here are some guidelines:
- Columns are usually 500-700 words
- They generally focus on a Michigan topic or policy and should avoid ad hominem attacks
- The more direct, distinct and/or intimate your perspective, the more effective your column will be
- The best columns do more than identify problems; they also offer solutions and facts to back them up
- Please include a one- or two-sentence bio, including the writer’s organization or relevant background
- Send a good quality, large headshot of the writer(s) as an attachment
- We also ask that, in return for publishing a guest commentary, the author(s) and their organizations generously promote the link to the published column through your Facebook, Twitter and other social or professional networks.
That’s about it. Keep the writing clear, conversational and free of jargon, and sell our smart and receptive readership on the argument you are trying to make.
Who to contact:
Email your submission or idea to Monica Williams at mwilliams@bridgemi.com. Please briefly describe who you are and what you would like to say.
Articles
Opinion | Michigan high schools should require college financial aid literacy
Rep. Darrin Camilleri may not have been able to afford college if he didn’t figure out how to fill out a federal financial aid form called the FAFSA. He’s now pushing to make the form a high school requirement.
Opinion | Michigan needs to decide what kind of state it wants to be
The state is at a crossroads. It’s time to put our money where our mouth is.
Opinion | Please, Gov. Whitmer, fix Benton Harbor High. Don’t close it.
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants to close the high school in Benton Harbor because of low academic achievement and high debt. A State Board of Education member (and fellow Democrat) makes a case for investing in the struggling district, rather than closing the high school.
Opinion | Special assessments are a tax by another name
You probably don’t know you’re paying it. You probably shouldn’t be paying it.
Opinion | Michigan needs vote-by-mail elections
Voting by mail increases participation and deceases cost. That sounds like a win-win for the state.
Opinion | Advice for the new Michigan superintendent, from a former one
Former state superintendent Tom Watkins offers some words of wisdom to Michael Rice, who’ll take over as Michigan’s school chief in July.
Opinion | Jesus would protect immigrants. Michigan should, too.
Three Michigan faith leaders are asking residents to tell Congress to protect Dreamers – undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
Opinion | Gov. Whitmer’s school budget helps students succeed
The current school funding model is broken. The plan laid out by Michigan’s new governor begins to fix it.
Opinion | Current, former Republican Speakers seek Michigan jail reform
Incarceration rates are down and our neighborhoods are safer. But there’s still more work to be done on criminal justice reform, say three leading Republicans.
Opinion | Michigan shouldn’t scrap arts requirement for high school
Bills now in the Legislature would allow students to substitute career tech for art. That’s a problem if we want to build well-rounded adults.
Opinion | Children in Michigan are also victimized by opioid abuse
Opioid abuse and deaths have a huge impact on children in affected families. Michigan needs to figure out how to help them.
Opinion | Gays don’t need to be ‘fixed.’ Michigan must ban conversion therapy
Sixteen states have banned conversion therapy, the controversial practice of trying to turn LGBTQ youth to embrace heterosexuality. It’s time for Michigan to join them.
Opinion | Gov. Whitmer’s education plan will help Michigan schools like mine
A middle school principal makes a pitch for Gretchen Whitmer’s plan for more school funding, and different ways of splitting up those dollars
Opinion | Schools and researchers must collaborate to help Detroit students
Detroit neighborhoods with higher rates of asthma have higher school absenteeism. One in five students switched schools during the year. Data can be a valuable tool when researchers are in touch with a city’s challenges.
Opinion | Here’s how Gov. Whitmer can limit impact of Medicaid work requirements
A law professor makes a public case for how Gov. Whitmer could undercut the GOP’s work requirements for Michigan’s Medicaid recipients.
Opinion | Puncturing the myths about Michigan road funding
Michigan roads have to be fixed and the money has to come from somewhere. Mike Nystrom responds to some of the common questions.
Opinion | Line 5’s environmental calamities started when it was built
There were concerns about a pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac from the beginning. Now’s not the time to start the cycle over again with a tunnel.
Opinion | President Trump’s tariffs hobble Michigan’s automotive future
Michigan is a state built on wheels. Tariffs threaten to puncture the tires.
Opinion | Jail bonds hurt more than just the poor
Three out of five jail inmates are awaiting trial, and most are there for property or drug offenses. Wayne County pays $163 a day for those inmates. It’s time to eliminate the cash bail system.
Opinion | Michigan colleges trample free speech. My bill protects speech.
A Republican legislator wants to make sure students and speakers invited to college campuses by students can have their say.