An array of out-of-state nonprofits, funded by some of the same organizations that capitalized on the Tea Party movement, are creating an ecosystem of alternative media online, delivering political reporting, grassroots organizing, advocacy and even satire to Michiganders through Facebook. Now they're harnessing resentment toward the state's stay-at-home order. read more

posted on 05/15/2020

A single liberal super PAC, Priorities USA Action, is spending $17.3 million to run ads every week until the general election. read more

posted on 05/10/2020

If Facebook in the week before Michigan's primary was any prelude to what voters can expect before November, dark money organizations could be flooding news feeds. read more

posted on 03/18/2020

Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the two leading progressives in the race, have also begun advertising on Michigan airwaves. read more

posted on 02/24/2020

Use our infographic to examine the funding sources of every House candidate. read more

posted on 02/06/2020

The 501(c)(4), which are not meant to directly aid politcians, was created two weeks before the Governor's speech. read more

posted on 01/31/2020

Bloomberg has spent about $6.6 million in the last eight weeks running ads. In 2020 they have represented 79% of all political advertisements on air. read more

posted on 01/17/2020

The MCFN board of directors is pleased to announce Simon D. Schuster has been selected as MCFN's new executive director. read more

posted on 11/25/2019

A statewide advertising campaign that promotes Enbridge’s oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac uses the image of a government scientist who found that 700 miles of Great Lakes shoreline would be at risk if the line ruptures. The agency the scientist works for says it didn't give permission for Enbridge to use the image in the ad campaign. read more

posted on 09/30/2019

Some Michigan lawmakers have been headlining fundraisers where donors are specifically asked to make “corporate contributions only," according to invitations obtained by MCFN. It's a request that could help ensure the sources of money and the groups collecting it remain secret. read more

posted on 09/24/2019

So far in 2019, a small group of influential state lawmakers has been consuming larger than normal amounts of free food and drink purchased by lobbyists. Those lobbyists spent more than $4,000 on meals and beverages for three individual lawmakers over the first seven months of 2019, according to new disclosures. read more

posted on 09/11/2019

Over the last decade alone, Michigan has seen a striking shift on the subject of abortion: The number of Right to Life-backed Democrats running for state office has plummeted; and the groups funding the fight are providing less information about where their money is coming from. read more

posted on 09/09/2019

A company that owns a controversial oil pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac was one of the sponsors of a recent gathering of county officeholders from across Michigan. At the event, the officeholders voted to take a policy position in favor of the pipeline, a pipeline Michigan's attorney general is trying to shut down. read more

posted on 09/06/2019

Lobbyist spending in Michigan is on a record pace in 2019. Lobbyists reported spending $23.2 million over the first seven months of 2019, a 6-percent increase over the previous high for the same period in past years, according to disclosures. The spending came as a new class of lawmakers took office and the Legislature overhauled the state's auto insurance system. read more

posted on 09/05/2019