The series is created by journalism classes at Michigan State University working with community allies. Joe Grimm is the series creator and editor. Grimm joined MSU's School of Journalism in 2008 after more than 30 years in daily newspapering. He worked at the Detroit Free Press for more than 25 years. He held various editing jobs and became the youngest reader representative in a U.S. newsroom. For most of his time at the Free Press, Grimm was the newsroom's recruiting and staff development editor. His charge was to create better content by developing the newsroom staff to better reflect the community. During his tenure there the Free Press developed the most diverse staff among major American newspapers.