A Grand Rapids media entity which describes itself as a news “watchdog” has made a marked editorialized shift in its content as anti-ICE sentiment rises in the city.
The Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID) describes itself as having been launched in 1998 in response to “the growing influence of the corporate media” in Grand Rapids. GRIID claims it aims to elevate media literacy and raise awareness about how news can “misinform the public on critical issues like war, race, gender, health, the environment, consumerism and elections.”
“We also act as a media watchdog of the news in West Michigan and have published numerous reports that demonstrate that the corporate media fails the public miserably on critical issues,” the site’s about page reads.
GRIID publishes its own articles skeptical of news coverage by local outlets. Among these stories are “Elections won’t solve the problems we face in the US, but organized resistance can” and “New Year, same damn lies about the history of Grand Rapids.”
In one piece titled “Echo chambers for state propaganda: WOODTV8 only talked to Venezuelans that hate Maduro,” GRIID accused WOODTV8 of delivering a one-sided account of the United States’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro because the interviewees belonged to community groups that “doesn’t questions systems of power [sic].”
That piece cited Movimiento de Ciudad President Jose Duran as saying, “For 27 years, Venezuelans are suffering.”
“So you want to know, ask Venezuelans,” it continues. “Every protest you see, there’s no one Venezuelan there. There’s no one.”
Recently, however, GRIID appears to have pivoted toward promoting political activism rather than media monitoring. GRIID’s “Indy News” arm frequently promotes pushback against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through “resistance and solidarity with immigrants.”
One piece titled “Why are white people so pissed off about ICE now?” claims ICE traces its roots to vigilante groups of “Night Riders,” made up of “white US citizens who didn’t want to allow Black people to achieve any form of justice and equality.”
“Imagine if every immigrant who has an appointment at the ISAP office or immigration court was accompanied by allies that would reduce the chance of being taken by ICE,” another article reads. “Imagine if there were teams of people doing patrols in neighborhoods where immigrants live/work and where immigrants have told us that they have seen ICE operating. Imagine if there were faith communities, community centers, non-profits and other entities that would declare themselves as sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants.”
That article then directs readers to a community group which maintains an ICE rapid response hotline.
The only author’s byline to appear on the site is Jeff Smith. Smith is the man behind The Grand Rapids People’s History Project, an “insurgent and radical people’s history approach” modeled after Howard Zinn’s book “A People’s History of the United States.”
Smith repeatedly uses GRIID’s media monitoring platform to elevate his own anti-ICE activism, such as when he and five protesters were arrested in January for holding an anti-ICE demonstration outside the Kent County Sheriff’s Office. The protesters were warned by police at the time that remaining on the property meant they were risking arrest, according to Smith’s account of events.
Each pleaded not guilty to trespassing charges, claiming “in our minds were engaging in an act of harm reduction, specifically to reduce the number of immigrants who end up in ICE custody in Kent County,” according to a statement published by GRIID.
Smith also wrote about how he and a group of protesters swarmed the home of Kent County Commissioner Ben Greene to demand that he agree to not cooperate with ICE, despite publicly saying he would make no such concessions. Commissioner Greene said the protesters startled his young children who were in the house at the time.
GRIID also elevates protest activities from Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE, groups which Smith is an active participant in. It most recently highlighted a group of four protesters who were arrested for staging an anti-ICE demonstration at a meeting of the Kent County Commission.
“Shortly after 9am during the public comment period of the Kent County Commission meeting, an activists [sic] read a statement and was joined by three others stating they would not leave the meeting until the Kent County Commission adopted the 6 sanctuary policies that Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE have been demanding for the past 14 months,” Smith’s account reads.
When reached by The Grand Rapids Herald for comment about his publication, Smith suggested The Herald’s inquiry was sent in bad faith.
“The questions you are posing seem rather odd to me, like you are fishing for something,” he wrote via email, adding that “based on your previous reporting I am going to decline answering your queries.”
Smith was once a part of the Grand Rapids Community Media Center (GRCMC), a local charity which connects several local media entities. He now operates independently, however, and focuses on power structure analysis that are critical of the philanthropic ecosystem GRCMC depends on.
Smith was also involved in the now-defunct MediaMouse.com, a “left and progressive group blog” that aimed to “inspire grassroots activism to transform our community, our lives, and our world.” That site included several nods to GRIID and followed a similar media watchdog playbook.
Among Smith’s other projects is Koinonia House, a housing collective which declared itself a sanctuary for Central American refugees. Smith also runs Catalyst Radio, a “public affairs program” run by GRCMC, according to the Rapidian, and teaches workshops at Grand Valley State University.
Smith received a large speaking fee for hosting a book talk and signing event for “A People’s History of Grand Rapids” at the Grand Rapids African American Museum in 2024.
GRIID’s website hosts several media toolkits, one of which was produced through a grant from The Funding Exchange—a left-leaning grantmaking group which dissolved in 2018 and was founded by wealthy Democratic activist George Pillsbury.