True stories, powerfully told, make the world a better place.

I still remember how scared I was when I first started reporting and writing about gay rights.

I was in high school, a baby journalist trying to put together some stories about the raging debate over gay inclusion in the Boy Scouts of America. And I was terrified to touch what felt like a fully-electrified third rail.

What shocked me, though, was that the people I was interviewing were often voicing support for LGBTQ+ inclusion in Scouting—an opinion I secretly held myself, but was not yet ready to verbalize.

Those first stories put me on a path to becoming a journalist, and later author, who sought out taboo topics and difficult conversations. On the Boy Scouts story and many others, I learned to amplify marginalized voices and call out discrimination. And I did it all with a level of transparency, vulnerability and narrative craft that infused my stories with a unique power.

I carry those lessons with me today, and still use my journalism to those ends: Empowering overlooked communities and illuminating solutions to our collective problems—all while spinning a good yarn.

Ready to get on board?

LET’S TELL A STORY TOGETHER

💞 ‘He’s a joy to work with’

“Mike is a versatile, talented freelance journalist who has never shied away from an assignment. Mike’s copy is clean and accurate; I seldom have to spend much time editing anything he turns in. Mike also goes above and beyond when it comes to deadlines. He doesn’t just meet them, he will turn in an assignment two weeks early and then ask for another. Plus he’s a joy to work with.” — Jon Reed, senior editor at CNET

📖 ‘Extraordinarily detailed storytelling’

“Mike De Socio pulls you in with his remarkable ability to weave personal anecdote with historical data, rich and extraordinarily detailed storytelling.” — Reader feedback

✍️ You can hire me to…

Write nuanced, narrative stories about LGBTQ+ politics, culture and history
Tackle rigorously-reported articles about climate tech and solutions, or reader-friendly guides to sustainable living
Craft enthralling features and profiles of leaders, change-makers and contrarian characters

🗞️ I work with…

Mainstream newspapers and magazines
Niche-specific B2B publications
Association and trade magazines

READY TO WORK TOGETHER?

🕵 Let’s talk about my approach

I believe in fairness and transparency, not objectivity and false neutrality.

I’ll say it: Objectivity in journalism is an impossible standard, and it allows the White, male, straight perspective to pass as “neutral.” It also encourages lazy “both sides” journalism. What I do instead: I acknowledge the subjectivity that all journalists have, but nonetheless work to achieve fairness in my reporting. And I am transparent with the reader when I have a bias that might impact my work. (For more reading on the myth of journalistic objectivity, I highly recommend “The View from Somewhere.”)

I center solutions whenever possible.

The journalistic default is to highlight problems in the world. And that is, for sure, an essential service. But then what? To move forward as a society, we need solutions, too. I’ve trained with the Solutions Journalism Network and embrace their model of “rigorous reporting about how people are trying to solve problems and what we can learn from their successes and failures.”

I aim to amplify historically excluded voices.

Whether I’m writing an 800-word piece of service journalism, or a deeply reported narrative feature, I aim for a diverse mix of voices. I’m especially intersted in amplifying those who’ve historically been excluded from the conversation, or whose expertise has not always been recognized.