New Detroit daily?

[texorama]

WWJ is reporting that a couple of people who were involved with Detroit strikers' papers in the 1960s and 1970s are testing the waters for a new daily paper--did anyone hear this? I was in my car, but I can't find anything about it on the WWJ site or anywhere else. What were the names?

[rustic2]

Yes, I heard about it. Found a press release at work. They're having a press conference on Tuesday in Southfield, I think. The Stern brothers. We sorely need a real newspaper in Detroit. The dailies, while they have their moments and their slick packaging, are on a steep downward spiral which will probably accelerate with the delivery changes and latest round of layoffs and buyouts, and have been in decline for years. I would love to see real competition give them a run for their money.

I've worked in the local news media for 20 years, and it's astonishing how many good, solid stories go barely mentioned or completely uncovered.

[EastsideAl]

Who would invest in a newspaper these days?

[BShea]

We sorely need a real newspaper in Detroit.

How do you define "a real newspaper?"

Often, people say a "real newspaper" is filled with stories reflecting their personal interests and opinions.

[texorama]

Here's the scoop.

http://www.wwj.com/Stop-the-Presses-...Daily-/4557651

[dtowncitylover]

As a future journalist myself and a Detroit lover, I hope if they do this, they open the newspaper in the city, not in Southfield or some other suburb.

[texorama]

It seems like an odd move. But I've always wondered why it wouldn't be possible to, essentially, run a small-town newspaper [[some of which are still doing fine financially) in a big city. Think about a paper like the Petoskey News-Review, which only had a circulation of about 10,000 but was distributed over a huge area. They may have been less unionized, but their staff is small, and I don't think that would make the difference. Anyway, best of luck to them.

[pffft]

There were many "strike papers" during the '67-'68 newspaper strike, unlike the '95 strike [[when the Sunday Journal was the strike paper) the earlier papers were done by entrepreneurs, not strikers.

I know of at least two or three '60s strike papers, although I never read any, my dad started bringing home the New York Times during that time.

[rustic2]

A real paper, BShea? How much time and space have I got?

Let's start with one that does serious crime reporting, with stories and photos on the homicides, major shootings, drug busts, street robberies and other mayhem we know occur regularly in some of our towns -- and not just Detroit. The dailies currently ignore, or maybe devote only couple of paragraphs to, most of these crimes, unless there are multiple victims or the victims have a high profile or there is a major police screwup. Perhaps a string of stories like these would bring more pressure to bear on our elected officials and get them to make fighting crime a priority. And, yes, people love to read 'em.

Detroit alone had 300-something or 400-something homicides in 2008, depending on your source. How many actually made the paper?

Then let's move to the courts, where some of the above stories end up. Almost any given weekday, there's a dramatic trial, or several, going on at Frank Murphy. Victims' lives have been lost or shattered, defendants' lives are in the balance, ordinary citizens are called upon to judge their fellows -- and there's no reporter in the courtroom.

And how about the county civil court at CAY? A gold mine, if any reporter took the time to dig. Then there's the federal court down the street from the dailies. Another gold mine.

How about some real features on the people of Metro Detroit and what they're doing, good and bad? There're plenty examples of both. Good features are more than fluff, whimsical columns and columns designed to entice readers to buy stuff. I could go through detroityes forums and find at least a month's worth of feature story ideas.

Speaking of features, where's the books and arts coverage? Very limited. And business coverage? Either cheerleading or hand-wringing -- and too often facts are secondary to the author's opinion or analysis of them. We need more straight business reporting.

How about beat coverage [[which would go for most of the topics mentioned here)? Reporters you can trust know their way around a given beat? There are shopping writers, why not a labor writer? Lansing coverage is just awful, and so is Washington coverage, for the most part [[I do like Deb Price). And the daily staffers have next to zero regular presence in suburban communities, unless you count the occasional phone call to city hall. I was sitting in the mayor's office in Livonia one night in the 1990s when, no lie, a News reporter called and asked for Ed McNamara -- who hadn't been mayor for nearly a decade. Where do they get these people?

Then sports, which I don't follow much myself. Pro coverage is limited and so is collegiate [[except when there's cheerleading to be done, and bring the clichés!), and prep coverage is almost nonexistent. When I was in high school the Freep had decent prep coverage -- photos, even, and not just at tournament time. Coverage of recreational sports, which would touch a lot of people, like running, biking, bowling, yoga, health clubs, etc, is spotty at best.

Finally, opinion. I haven't followed it in over a year, but when last I did, the Freep had very limited opinion pages, and didn't even run very many syndicated columnists. There was usually one main editorial, letters, and "blog" excerpts. If you were lucky, you got Leonard Pitts, whom I like. But on the whole it was crap. Maybe it's different with the electronic edition. I want to see a diversity of well-considered, well-expressed opinions, and humor.

Somewhere above, this description of a real newspaper turned into a rant against the dailies, but I think you get the picture. When you focus solely on the bottom line the bottom can fall out of your product, and, in my opinion, that's what happened with the News and Free Press.

[Stosh]

If these guys can pull a newspaper off to the scope of what was ONCE a newspaper here in the city, I'm all for it. I remember those strike papers, and while they were, in fact, skimpy by comparison to the real newspapers of the time, they were remarkably similar to what passes as journalism around here now.

[irish_mafia]

Rustic2,

Ha, you were in Bob Bennett's office at the time I am guessing.

What you are describing is what I have been ranting about the lack of for years! The answer that I always get is the chicken and the egg problem of no advertisers, no $$ for real reporters, etc. If it could be produced again, i would buy it. i just don't know if the business model exists to succeed.

[rustic2]

Close, Irish. The mayor was Kirksey, but Bennett hadn't been out of office long. Come to think of it, it was probably some sorry-ass scab reporter [[the strike was still on) shipped in from God knows where. I should cut him [[or her) some slack.

[rustic2]

Irish, you're probably right, that model likely wouldn't succeed. A guy can dream, though. ... Maybe I've got the rose-colored glasses on, but it seemed that the dailies of yesteryear helped us create a sense of community and shared destiny and common purpose. Now, everyone's just into his own thing, distracted by the phone and the texting device. I would love to see some of those Detroit crime stories of 30 years ago. Maybe a trip to the library for microfilm. ...
On the other hand, if I could sell a subscription for everyone who's saying, "I want to hold a paper in my hands," we'd be on our way.

[pffft]

I seem to have stumbled into a parallel world Detroit, where there are no print newspapers anymore.

[scuola]

Walk to the store and buy your daily paper--they are still there.

But for quality...how about a "Crains Detroit Daily" expanded beyond business coverage? Can I dream?

[sehender1]

rustic2:

Just a quick response to your initial post, which criticized the Freep's opinion pages.
You should take a look at www.FreepOpinion.com, which is our presence on Freep.com.

It's all the stuff from the paper, plus many more op/eds that don't see print. We are still one of the first place people go if they have something important they want to say in metro Detroit and Michigan...

We have a blog that features members of the editorial board, our cartoonist Mike Thompson and a weekly guest blogger. We've had state reps and congresspeople, environmentalists and economists, all from all over the spectrum, as part of that guest blogger feature.

The blog itself gives readers a more personal way to connect with our editorial writers, and with me, and gives us a chance to opine on far more topics than we could fit into the ink-on-paper product.

Our next project has to do with letters to the editor... right now on the site, you can just read the ones that appeared in the current day's paper. But we've got something very robust planned and three-quarters built. It is a first-of-its-kind effort among newspapers, and I'm pretty excited about its possibilities.

We'll also soon [[crossing my fingers for all this to work out) get heavily into video; everyone from the governor to the neighborhood community activists comes to see us, so I'd like to get readers a chance to "sit in" on all of those meetings if they'd like - either the whole meeting or a smartly edited portion.

We'll also be adding weekly chats at some point that'll feature decision-makers that most readers can't get access to on their own. You want to talk to Ficano or Bing or Levin, we hope to be able to get you that access.

We'll also begin featuring links to far more syndicated columns than we could ever print in the paper.. hoping to become something of a one-shop-stop for links to some of the best commentary available from around the country..

FreepOpinion.com is in its first life [[1.0) right now... and it's doing pretty well. We've gotten pretty good at getting stuff from there into the Freep.com most popular list..
When we unveil our second iteration, it'll only get better.

I share everyone's frustration with the dwindling ink-on-paper products... but believe me that's just about economics. The business model for a wide-distribution, printed newspaper is just crumbling.

But I'm very excited about the possibilities that exist for us online, and our readers are, too. In some ways, we're able to do even more there - start a conversation, rather than issue an opinion edict, and let it grow from there.

Hope you'll check us out..

[pffft]

Walk to the store and buy your daily paper--they are still there.

Ah, somebody who lives outside the parallel universe.

[Bearinabox]

But I'm very excited about the possibilities that exist for us online, and our readers are, too. In some ways, we're able to do even more there - start a conversation, rather than issue an opinion edict, and let it grow from there.

If the comments on freep.com articles are any indication as to what such a "conversation" might entail, then I think an edict would be far more sensible and productive.

[pffft]

"Crowdsourcing" is what Gannett prefers...

[sehender1]

Bearinabox:

You're right about the comments in many parts of Freep.com.. but I think at FreepOpinion.com, we've done just a little better with cultivating an actual conversation... Take a look at this thread: http://www.freep.com/article/2009060...anders++health

Or this one, which is about gay marriage: http://www.freep.com/article/2009060...n+gay+rights?+

Yes, some of the comments are pointed. And some fail to add much substance to the discussion. [[though you see that in nearly all online forums, I think.)

But on balance, these are constructive conversations taking place... We're working at pretty hard, and I think we've been fairly successful..

[Ravine]

As soon as the new paper comes out, I will buy it. Unless it is truly terrible, I will continue to buy it.
I recognize a certain whining poutiness in my feelings about the decline & partial fall of the Freep, but there was a time when the idea of going without my daily Free Press was nearly unthinkable. Now, I choose to go without it, because I think it sucks.
I confess that I am suffering from a bit of jilted-lover syndrome, and I don't mind admitting it.

[kenp]

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Detroi...?v=wall&ref=mf

[BShea]

I had a follow-up story on the Press in Monday's Crain's, FYI.

[gnome]

I think Gary Stern wrote some famous do-op song ... like Run Around Sue or some such thing... he sold off the rights to pay for the delivery of his infant son. Bill, there is an angle you might not have heard of.

[1KielsonDrive]

I'd make a modest investment toward a start-up and subscribe for a year or so to see if it's worthwhile.