Q & A With Misty Barron – Managing Editor of Confluence

With the coming together of Route Bay City and Catalyst Midland, and soon enough, communities across Saginaw County, in a new publication known as Confluence, there needs to be one Managing Editor. Misty Barron was steering Catalyst Midland for the last few years and has taken over the role. She sat down with me to talk about how she got here and where she hopes this publication will go. 

What were you doing before taking over as Managing Editor of Catalyst?

I spent my whole life in Freeland until I moved to Wisconsin in 2000. At that time, I was a stay-at-home mom, and for a while I managed a bookstore. It was a small, locally owned bookstore, but I loved it. After a divorce, I came back home in 2017 and ended up in Midland. My sister lives here, so that helped, and my parents were only five minutes away. My daughter and her husband live in Sterling Heights with my two grandsons. 

I didn’t know for sure that I would go into writing, and journalism never crossed my mind until it pretty much fell on my lap. I had made a promise to my dad that I would get a degree. So it was also a little personal going back to Delta when I was 45. If it hadn’t been for the reconnect scholarship, I wouldn’t be where I am now. 

I went in not knowing exactly what I was going to do, and so I just started taking classes. Graphic design was one of them, and the professor pointed out to me that the Collegiate was hiring a page designer. I interviewed with them and got the job. About that time, I thought I actually prefer to write over doing graphic design, so I kind of fell into journalism. 

Writing has always been part of my life, but it never clicked with me that, hey, maybe you should do this, and so it finally, at 45 years old, clicked with me. It came naturally to me, let’s put it that way, and it just seemed like the right fit. Then the managing editor of the Collegiate graduated, so I took her spot.

I started writing for Ron (Beacom) in January of 2020. He was the first managing editor for Catalyst, which started in 2018. I was a student at Delta College when I found out about Catalyst. (Professor Crystal McMorris) told me about Catalyst, and Ron hired me to do some articles for him. Then, when he retired, I applied for his position, and here I am. 

As a reporter, is there a particular subject you like writing about?

Not overall. I obviously love going to events, but that’s an easy one. I really like finding the lesser-known people who are doing good in the community. I like finding the quieter stories, the ones that not everybody knows about, and highlighting them. I love learning about all the different things that people are doing find solutions to the problems of all of our communities. 

I just wrote for Common Ground on the Good Food Fund, which they’re awarding funds to help co-ops and sustainable shared-use kitchens. It’s just it’s so nice to write about things that impact people personally. I love the solutions journalism approach that we have. I think that it’s something that every community needs.

What is solutions journalism, and how is it different than what other media offers?

The definition I was given is that solutions journalism is “rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems, which include insight, evidence, and limitations.” It focuses on a response to a social problem and how that response has worked or why it hasn’t. It also uses evidence, but doesn’t have to be statistics. It’s personal stories. That’s where solutions journalism rises above just writing. 

Anybody can write about the homeless epidemic, but how many go down and talk to somebody who is homeless and have them talk about how a certain program helps them? Solutions journalism gives more of the humanity side than the statistics side. 

How will solutions journalism bridge the gaps between Saginaw, Midland, and Bay Counties?

I think nowadays, with the rest of the world going crazy, we need solutions to journalism, not because it’s the fluff piece or the happy stuff, but give people a little bit of hope. It’s good reporting. It’s human stories. It gets at the real heart of a matter without getting weighed down by statistics. 

It’s really important to bring all three of the communities closer, and with one central publication that focuses on the people, we’ll be okay. There are other divides, but despite those divides, we all live, work, and play here. 

How can people get in touch with you about story ideas?

I really enjoy hearing from the community about stories that matter to them. My inbox is always open editor@confluenceglb.com or visit our site.