Wow this Daily Mail article SUCKS [From Motown to Ghost town]

[Detroitnerd]

Wait. Henry Ford FOUNDED Detroit? I thought he founded a motor company here, about 202 years AFTER Antoine De La Mothe Cadillac founded the city.

[BrushStart]

The journalism in the Daily Mail isn't the journalism of such British papers as the Guardian, Independent and Times, which have done much more serious, nuanced articles about Detroit over the years. The Guardian, in fact, published a travel story a couple of years ago that told of the wonderful time two female reporters spent in Detroit one summer weekend.

That said, how can we be shocked that any visitor is overwhelmed by the facade of Detroit? While the Daily Mail's overall take on the city was incomplete and clunky, the reporter's descriptions of Van Dyke and Mack, the "enormous tombstone" of the Michigan Central Station and the deserted streets of downtown are absolutely accurate. Why pretend that the ever-increasing decay of most city neighborhoods is not occurring?

The scale of Detroit's abandonment is staggering, and it startles all first-time visitors. The dismal state of most of the city does raise legitimate questions about the nation's priorities and its future. In more capable hands than those of Peter Hitchens, those points might have been made in a more intelligent way. Being realistic about Detroit is not a sin. It does not detract from the many efforts underway by many people to improve the city. The media is hardly the cause of Detroit's plight, and in fact there have been countless stories in recent months that focus on revitalization.

I strongly disagree. The article is not accurate or realistic, because it misleads through omission. Journalists are trained to report on events in a fair and factual way. Aside from the many factual errors Hitchens makes, there is no reference to any positive developments. After reading that piece, the only impression one can be left with is that Detroit is a nothing but a ghetto, desolate, blighted hellhole with roving squads of KKK that is destined for endless decline. That's a pretty one-sided picture, no?

Nobody is denying that the abandonment is staggering, but downtown is not a ghost town. I should know, I live here. There are larger cities in the US that have more desolate downtowns than Detroit. There are simply lots of facts that Hitchens chose to leave out in order for it to be 'shocking.'

Lastly, I disagree that negative media spin hasn't had a tremendous impact on Detroit. Virtually everything is about image and perception. Most people base their opinions on impressions and feedback from others. They also make decisions based on that information, even if they are ignorant of the truth. I often post on City-Data.com, and people from Britain have been afraid to visit Detroit because of how bad the city is reported in their local press. The impact on Detroit is far-reaching. It's hard to attract visitors, residents, business, and investment when the city's reputation is so destroyed by the media.

[Detroit Stylin]

Wait. Henry Ford FOUNDED Detroit? I thought he founded a motor company here, about 202 years AFTER Antoine De La Mothe Cadillac founded the city.

lol @ that...

[DetroitPole]

I strongly disagree. The article is not accurate or realistic, because it misleads through omission. Journalists are trained to report on events in a fair and factual way. Aside from the many factual errors Hitchens makes, there is no reference to any positive developments. After reading that piece, the only impression one can be left with is that Detroit is a nothing but a ghetto, desolate, blighted hellhole with roving squads of KKK that is destined for endless decline. That's a pretty one-sided picture, no?

Nobody is denying that the abandonment is staggering, but downtown is not a ghost town. I should know, I live here. There are larger cities in the US that have more desolate downtowns than Detroit. There are simply lots of facts that Hitchens chose to leave out in order for it to be 'shocking.'

Lastly, I disagree that negative media spin hasn't had a tremendous impact on Detroit. Virtually everything is about image and perception. Most people base their opinions on impressions and feedback from others. They also make decisions based on that information, even if they are ignorant of the truth. I often post on City-Data.com, and people from Britain have been afraid to visit Detroit because of how bad the city is reported in their local press. The impact on Detroit is far-reaching. It's hard to attract visitors, residents, business, and investment when the city's reputation is so destroyed by the media.

In particular I stopped reading after the Indian Village piece. He had nothing to say about the beauty of the neighborhood. Instead he just made it sound like the residents were ferociously battling the onslaught of the rest of the city.

While I know what it is like to live in a decent neighborhood in 2011 Detroit and have to try to stave off blight, he certainly didn't do IV justice, and I'm sure many residents and non-residents of that neighborhood would agree.

[313WX]

There are larger cities in the US that have more desolate downtowns than Detroit.

Ok, name one.

[Detroitdave]

Also he didn't visit or say anything about Palmer Woods , Green Acres , Sherwood Forest , the University District, East Village, Bagley District , Eastern Market , Belle Island , Cork Town ,just to name a few off the top of my head . Much of what he said is true , but really unbalance. It's like he went looking for the negative ... who took this guy around ? It's like he went about 10 blocks east and north of Downtown and that was it, went back to his Hotel room and banged out a story?
Like I said in my earlier post ,I go back and forth with my feelings on the city, but in the end I will defend the city, because there is a moment here to rebuild the city and there are people here that really believe in the city , but residents only have so much patience .

The council members at city hall need to think more outside the box , get the crime under control and schools under control and tear down brunt out homes and older store fronts and buildings that , can't be saved or , have no architecture value , meaning it can't easily be replace.

Making the city look livable is key , "Abitato", "Disabitato ","Palimpset" re use , urban layers
Detroititas ! , pride in your own city !

[rencense]

what a butthole!

ok more specific thoughts;

Im getting a little weary of this sentiment that someone who "tells it like it is" [[mostly by only focusing on the bad) is somehow advancing knowledge and bringing us closer to real solutions. This is very common when talking about detroit. Crap journalism is bad enough, but its even worse to paint a noble facade on it. Detroits troubles are hardly news for nearly anyone.

I agree totally with brushstart that unbalanced articles like this are harmful and actually slow down our progress. Heck even growing up in the burbs gave most of my generation an inaccurate- or at least incomplete view of detroit city. I've learned most truths in life fall somewhere between the extremes. The truth is that there are stunning neighborhoods and great people throughout the city. there are also large parts like he describe and lots of urban problems. Still much more of the city is a little ragged looking but certainly not delray. There are a lot of us who are working tirelessly to turn things around and any even remotely credible story about detroit's condition would have to mention the positive to stay balanced.

In case i have to point out some other inaccuracies:

"Motown [[now relocated to Los Angeles)." yes motown is alive and well in LA [[i seem to recall motown pretty much died after leaving detroit

"Most of the great buildings are ghosts: hotels that haven’t seen a guest in years, department stores where the last customer left decades ago, abandoned dentists’ surgeries where the elaborate Forties chairs moulder in echoing solitude. Where there was optimism, there is now nothing but melancholy."

WOW where to start? most of the great buildings are ghosts? does that include the fox, penobscot, fisher, guardian, etc etc? sure there are a few great ones that are empty but even most of those are seeing some attention. all the empty hotels have either been restored or torn down, im not aware of a lot of abandoned dept stores either. and finally i think the abandoned dentists offices is probably referring to the giant skyscraper thats being restored [[broderick) [[which shows his level of expertise on our town) Optimism is slowly growing and not just giving way to melancholy.

just my take

[Zacha341]

Thank you for mentioning our other communities DD! Yeah we have our problems, no doubt, but as soon as I read the standard reference to Indian Village only as one of our nicer areas, I was like this is the usual 'surface' Deroit light bashing stuff.

I'm a west sider and withstanding our problem areas I've noted that our nicer communities are rarely referenced by sight-seers, despite he west side being larger than the eastside. You have to really know Detroit beyond a five-minute drive from a downtown hotel room to mention areas like Green Acres, and know of the wonderful property still attempting to strive off of Curtis and and say Cherrylawn?

Indian Village is the standard reference as though it is the only oasis. Annoying.

Also he didn't visit or say anything about Palmer Woods , Green Acres , Sherwood Forest , the University District, East Village, Bagley District , Eastern Market , Belle Island , Cork Town ,just to name a few off the top of my head . Much of what he said is true , but really unbalance. It's like he went looking for the negative ... who took this guy around ? It's like he went about 10 blocks east and north of Downtown and that was it, went back to his Hotel room and banged out a story?

[Zacha341]

Agreed! He did the standard 'name drop' of Indian Village [[omitting other similarly interesting areas on the west side) then did nothing to detail his reference to IV. Good point.

In particular I stopped reading after the Indian Village piece. He had nothing to say about the beauty of the neighborhood. Instead he just made it sound like the residents were ferociously battling the onslaught of the rest of the city.

While I know what it is like to live in a decent neighborhood in 2011 Detroit and have to try to stave off blight, he certainly didn't do IV justice, and I'm sure many residents and non-residents of that neighborhood would agree.

[skyl4rk]

I doubt that he even came to Detroit, he probably just researched his story by reading this forum.

[NorfLondonMatt]

THe Daily Mail panders to Middle England. It specialises in scare mongering stories to make people double lock their doors and vote conservative. THey paint the same sort of pictures of many of our UK towns and cities and have a particular fear of young people and immigrants. Worry not about this bloke. It's like believing what they say on Fox news!

[iheartthed]

yes motown is alive and well in LA [[i seem to recall motown pretty much died after leaving detroit

Motown didn't die after leaving Detroit. It actually had a few more successes. But the major inaccuracy of that statement is that now Motown is HQ'd in New York, not Los Angeles......

[Carey]

It's certainly fair to question the local media as to how they've cover Detroit, and how they've done it in the past. But I would say we're lucky there is no Daily Mail, News of the World or even New York Post or Boston Herald in Detroit. The Free Press and News are pretty conservative in their approach to journalism. [[I'm not talking about their politics.) They certainly don't exploit the crime and other crazy news from Detroit like a tabloid would. Most of the homicides that take place in the city never get an inch of coverage, for example.

I also think it's fair to ask if the two papers pull their punches when it comes to the city, and fail to really tell it like it is.

[NorfLondonMatt]

TO show that there has been more positive media coverage in the UK - three weeks ago there was a programme on BBC Radio 4 which concentrated on the regeneration of Detroit and all the good things that are going on especially focussing on art and artsits. May not be your thing and perhaps a little too "hipster" for some of you. I didn't hear it but the missus did and said it was good. Here is a link for a flavour. May be available on BBC America?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011p5nw

[iheartthed]

It's certainly fair to question the local media as to how they've cover Detroit, and how they've done it in the past. But I would say we're lucky there is no Daily Mail, News of the World or even New York Post or Boston Herald in Detroit. The Free Press and News are pretty conservative in their approach to journalism. [[I'm not talking about their politics.) They certainly don't exploit the crime and other crazy news from Detroit like a tabloid would. Most of the homicides that take place in the city never get an inch of coverage, for example.

I also think it's fair to ask if the two papers pull their punches when it comes to the city, and fail to really tell it like it is.

I'd say that the Freep and the News are a lot more "down" on Detroit than the tabloids in other cities are about their hometown. There is a theme in the New York media that New York is the greatest place on the face of the Earth, and the mindset almost never gets challenged. The tone in Detroit media about Detroit is almost the complete opposite.

[hhockey]

As much as we like to attack writers for their negative articles about Detroit, and we defend her with all our glory we must realize that their is some truth in these articles. That said we do have wonderful stories about Detroit and its downtown. What we don't have is vibrant neighborhood districts.

Why can't we do something about our great neighborhood areas? Grand River and Greenfield, Grand River and Oakman Blvd, 7 mile and Livernois, 7 Mile and Evergreen and on and on. In order for Detroit to survive we need more than just a Downtown. We need neighborhoods and business together. That is where the tax base comes from. For too many years we have ignored the neighborhoods for Downtown. Stable neighborhoods and business will turn Detroit around and then the writers won't be able to say Detroit is a dying town.

[coracle]

I'd say that the Freep and the News are a lot more "down" on Detroit than the tabloids in other cities are about their hometown. There is a theme in the New York media that New York is the greatest place on the face of the Earth, and the mindset almost never gets challenged. The tone in Detroit media about Detroit is almost the complete opposite.

Compared to Tabloids that have national and international readers the Detroit papers are very parochial and I think if they reported on everything they saw in Detroit they would soon be out of business.

[Bham1982]

Why can't we do something about our great neighborhood areas? Grand River and Greenfield, Grand River and Oakman Blvd, 7 mile and Livernois, 7 Mile and Evergreen and on and on. In order for Detroit to survive we need more than just a Downtown.

I agree, and am amazed that the retail looks so bad next to very nice neighborhoods. 7 & Livernois is next to beautiful neighborhoods, but the retail is a wasteland.

[Danny]

Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis. New Orleans, Camden, Baltimore and Highland Park, What do they all have in common? They're all failing African American dominant cities. Most of them are filled with mostly low income families that can't get out of the ghettoes. Most of them remain in those cities until the lose their homes, move to their families or friends or just DIE! These are the race of people that the rich African Americans left them behind. These are the people that even the white man left them behind. These cities got the poor and low-income Blacks what they wanted them, trapped in the Matrix, [[ just like the movie) being suck dry as batteries to the machine's power source.

Is there any hope for th have nots? Surely our G.R.E.E.D. corps have robbed them from them hopes and dreams. If only some compassionate rich African American or some white man come to any ghettoes of Detroit and other poor black American cities and fix their problems, their problems will not come to them.

At one time some 8 year old poor black boy in the ghettoes once told his mother or father, "When I grow up, I want to be a doctor." But when the peers of the ghettoes came into his heart he becomes an thug, a gangbanger, drug dealler, robber or a killer.; destined to go to prison for years to life or being DEAD!

Attention all of you rich Blacks and white folks: Don't leave the poor behind in the ghettoes to rot! Save their spirits, hopes and dreams. Because once some poor and low-income black folk decided to go in a life of crime. First thing they are going to do is rob the rich and feed the poor.

WORD FROM THE STREET PROPHET

Because the black race in America is an endanger species.

[illwill]

Danny,

I wouldn't say the Black Race "in America" is an endangered species but the Black race in "inner-city America" is an endangered species. There's a big difference. Many successful Black families in Ann Arbor, Farminton Hills, Bloomfield hills and other burbs thrrough out the country. It's the inner-cities that Blacks are becoming extinct.

[iheartthed]

Compared to Tabloids that have national and international readers the Detroit papers are very parochial and I think if they reported on everything they saw in Detroit they would soon be out of business.

I'm talking about how local papers report on their hometown.

[Carey]

Is the tone in the Detroit media more negative than that of papers in other cities, as iheartthed says?

Let's take the largest daily, the Free Press. Arguably its four best known columnists are Rochelle Riley, Mitch Albom. Tom Walsh and Steve Henderson. Where is the negative tone in their writing? I read them regularly, and I would say when it comes to Detroit, their tone is basically constructive. They certainly don't harp on the negative. In the News, Nolan Finley can seem negative, especially if you don't share his conservative Republican point of view, but what other prominent News' voice is neagtive?

Looking at the Free Press front page today, the murder of the 3-year-old girl is displayed prominently on page one. Does anyone want to argue the killing of a baby is not news? The story says there have been 182 homicides in Detroit this year -- up from 159 at this time last year, by the way -- and I'll bet only three or four previous murder stories have made it to page one in 2011.

The main story on page one in the Free Press today? "Bing to name renewal neighborhoods soon." That's the headline on the story about the partnership with federal officials to rebuild Detroit. That story reeks of hope and a promising future for the city.

I think the papers look away from a lot of stuff that could, if they wanted, be turned into sensational coverage and if anything exhibit a sort of boosterish tone at times. The owners of both papers and every TV station would like nothing more than to have a prosperous city of 2 million residents.

[bailey]

Originally Posted by BrushStart
There are larger cities in the US that have more desolate downtowns than Detroit

Ok, name one.

1. New York New York 8,175,133
2 Los Angeles 3,792,621
3 Chicago 2,695,598
4 Houston 2,099,451
5 Philadelphia 1,526,006
6 Phoenix 1,445,632
7 San Antonio 1,327,407
8 San Diego 1,307,402
9 Dallas 1,197,816
10 San Jose 945,942
11 Indianapolis 829,718
12 Jacksonville 821,784
13 San Francisco 805,235
14 Austin 790,390
15 Columbus 787,033
16 Fort Worth 741,206
17 Charlotte 731,424
18 Detroit 713,777

I've been to ...oh, at least...12 of those enough times to confidently say that not one has a "more desolate" downtown than Detroit. Frankly, I can't think of one that is even close. Jacksonville maybe? it kinda sucks and smells wierd, but its nowhere near as empty.

I would also be fairly confident saying that no where on that list is is a city that has more blight and abandonment in the neighborhoods than found in Detroit.


p.s. 18th? seems like just yesterday Detroit was top ten.

[iheartthed]

Is the tone in the Detroit media more negative than that of papers in other cities, as iheartthed says?

Let's take the largest daily, the Free Press. Arguably its four best known columnists are Rochelle Riley, Mitch Albom. Tom Walsh and Steve Henderson. Where is the negative tone in their writing? I read them regularly, and I would say when it comes to Detroit, their tone is basically constructive. They certainly don't harp on the negative. In the News, Nolan Finley can seem negative, especially if you don't share his conservative Republican point of view, but what other prominent News' voice is neagtive?

Looking at the Free Press front page today, the murder of the 3-year-old girl is displayed prominently on page one. Does anyone want to argue the killing of a baby is not news? The story says there have been 182 homicides in Detroit this year -- up from 159 at this time last year, by the way -- and I'll bet only three or four previous murder stories have made it to page one in 2011.

The main story on page one in the Free Press today? "Bing to name renewal neighborhoods soon." That's the headline on the story about the partnership with federal officials to rebuild Detroit. That story reeks of hope and a promising future for the city.

I think the papers look away from a lot of stuff that could, if they wanted, be turned into sensational coverage and if anything exhibit a sort of boosterish tone at times. The owners of both papers and every TV station would like nothing more than to have a prosperous city of 2 million residents.

Not that I have the time or the interest to sit here and debate this [[I read/watch both Detroit media and New York media on a daily basis, so my opinion is pretty "educated"), but I promise that you'll find next to no stories in either the NYPost or the NYDailyNews that broadbrush negative marginalizations of New York City, like the Detroit media does with Detroit. For instance, I read in the Detroit News yesterday an article that compared and contrasted Sylvan Lake and Detroit by highlighting points such as "Detroit is a metropolis that's mostly black, poor, undereducated...", while Sylvan Lake is "a lakeside Oakland County community of about 1,600 mostly higher-income whites who have college degrees." Source here: http://www.detnews.com/article/20110...ists-and-turns

[Danny]

Danny,

I wouldn't say the Black Race "in America" is an endangered species but the Black race in "inner-city America" is an endangered species. There's a big difference. Many successful Black families in Ann Arbor, Farminton Hills, Bloomfield hills and other burbs thrrough out the country. It's the inner-cities that Blacks are becoming extinct.

They are, everywhere Poor blacks in ghettoes are turn themselves into wild animals with a criminal element while rich blacks are turn themselves to white folks.