Craig Fahle leaving WDET

[Lowell]

Say it ain't so Craig but congrats on your new position. I hope WDET will keep a Detroit-focused show but it will be difficult to find another host as well-informed as Craig with his even disposition. The show has been a great source of information and interviews for Detroit

Craig will become director of public affairs and senior adviser for the the blight-fighting Detroit Land Bank Authority.

“I will be involved in strategic planning for the direction of the department, not simply a spokesperson,” Fahle told Crain’s this morning.

“Craig is going to be a great asset to the community over at the Land Bank,” Duggan said in a statement this evening. “He understands exactly the importance of our auction and how it and other Land Bank programs are going to transform neighborhoods across Detroit. He also brings more than just his skills as a professional communicator to his new role. Craig will play an important role in the future direction the Land Bank takes.”

Fahle’s show has emerged as an influential media platform for discussion of Detroit, garnering awards and praise for Fahle from industry watchers such as Columbia Journalism Review.

He said he’s leaving radio because it’s a job that will allow him to be involved in revitalizing the city in a different way. He said the city approached him about the position.

His last show will be on August 8. Full story at Crain's >>

[p69rrh51]

Lowell, unfortunately a better candidate was not offered the position. Chalk this up to more cronies on the payroll for Duggan.

[Homer]

Cool. Perhaps Mr. Fahle can now buy a home in Detroit and abandon his gilded GP neighborhood. He will have first dibs on Land Bank homes.

[TheUsualSuspect]

Guess you guys don't care much for Craig Fahle much eh?

[Wesley Mouch]

Guess you guys don't care much for Craig Fahle much eh?

I see you got that some here are suspicious of outsiders.

Strike 1) Lives in GP
Strike 2) White
Strike 3) Doesn't always toe the liberal company line -- although mostly he does

Detroit's #1 problem is inability to accept that there are many people who care deeply about Detroit, who don't always meet the 100% compliance test.

I wish Craig the best. He's been a great voice for WDET -- bringing diverse opinions together and moving the debate forward. I will greatly miss him on the air.

And as to his gilded house... He's a public radio reporter for WSU, not a professor. And his wife works at a Charter school [[probably not unionized). He likely has a good, but not extravagant income.

Good luck, and bless you for moving from words to action.

[Lowell]

Wow so much spite. Ironically the one time I was on his show was on the subject of online maliciousness and venting. He had had his share of that in the call-ins. So now he gets one last blast of it here.

Craig is cares for and knows about Detroit and the region far more than most. He has brought issues to the front in an intelligent and informed manner. The remarks above puzzle me.

[Detroitdave]

Bitter sweet. I will miss him at WDET, but now I will see him everyday at work :-) !

[Wesley Mouch]

Wow so much spite. Ironically the one time I was on his show was on the subject of online maliciousness and venting. He had had his share of that in the call-ins. So now he gets one last blast of it here.

Craig is cares for and knows about Detroit and the region far more than most. He has brought issues to the front in an intelligent and informed manner. The remarks above puzzle me.

Well put, Lowell. We are allowed to have strong opinions... but we should not attack people for their backgrounds, only for their actions.

[Bobl]

Informed, reasonable discussions and interviews are rare on radio these days. I will miss listening, and I thank him for his work at WDET FM.

[JBMcB]

Informed, reasonable discussions and interviews are rare on radio these days. I will miss listening, and I thank him for his work at WDET FM.

Here here. He was one of the better radio talk hosts.

[rb336]

I want his old job, for which I am meagerly qualified

[compn]

i didnt always agree with craig, i liked some of his interviews with people.

i even called in once and got on air.
he got me to engage in the dialog , which is more than i can say for most talk hosts.

[Gannon]

I was stumped by this...but know that Craig is a logical guy.


The mathematics only work out if he has further interest in politics, it seems. [[because, if he does this job well, it won't be needed in the future!)

Ran into him last night, and he immediately put the kabosh on that postulate.

I asked him if there would be a "Craig for Mayor" campaign this next go-'round...and almost felt his blood pressure jump a notch.


All those years at public radio have made him allergic to further fund-raising, it seems.


But he is leaving a huge void in his wake...a vacuum...and you know how much Mother Nature abhors those things.


Cheers...let's hope the rascals not unlike those who all but destroyed WDET last time do not come back to power.

I wonder if Ann Delisi is ready for busier weekdays?! She was in fabulous form last night at that final Listening Party. What a blast that was...

[Honky Tonk]

Wow so much spite. Ironically the one time I was on his show was on the subject of online maliciousness and venting. He had had his share of that in the call-ins. So now he gets one last blast of it here.

Craig is cares for and knows about Detroit and the region far more than most. He has brought issues to the front in an intelligent and informed manner. The remarks above puzzle me.

First of all, I find, [[found) Craig Fahle to be Detroit's premier talk show host. Always informative, interesting, and level headed. It's not so much hate as curiosity what qualifications he has for this position? Other than good communication skills, I would think overseeing a web based home auction site, would require a Realators background/license, acounting skills, credit and collection skills, web maintenance skills, and maybe a few other skills to boot. Unless Mr. Fahle is sand-bagging, I don't see a talk show host as having these.

[gnome]

First of all, I find, [[found) Craig Fahle to be Detroit's premier talk show host. Always informative, interesting, and level headed. It's not so much hate as curiosity what qualifications he has for this position? Other than good communication skills, I would think overseeing a web based home auction site, would require a Realators background/license, acounting skills, credit and collection skills, web maintenance skills, and maybe a few other skills to boot. Unless Mr. Fahle is sand-bagging, I don't see a talk show host as having these.

you bring up a good point. Each profession has its own set of skills and to succeed in a profession one must have a solid grasp of technologies and jargon. I did not know that Mr. fahle had Realtor skills, computer programming skills, marketing and advertising expertise.

Good luck to Mr. Fahle. I think he will need it.

[Wesley Mouch]

you bring up a good point. Each profession has its own set of skills and to succeed in a profession one must have a solid grasp of technologies and jargon. I did not know that Mr. fahle had Realtor skills, computer programming skills, marketing and advertising expertise.

Good luck to Mr. Fahle. I think he will need it.

I wondered the same things. I've met, but don't know Mr. Fahle. And I don't know his qualifications.

But I also know that a lot of positions in transitions like these are often filled by people who aren't always the perfect match for skills -- but are a perfect match for motivation, desire, heart, and their connections.

I don't know if the man is ambitious, but after 7 years, its a good time to move on. Take this position. Do at least OK at it while contributing to your city. And plan your next move.

A rising tide raises all boats.

And while you're doing some good work you love, you can keep your ear to the ground for a position at NPR, Fox News, or Al Jazerra, Citicorp, or Sacred Heart Seminary.

[mwilbert]

Other than good communication skills, I would think overseeing a web based home auction site, would require a Realators background/license, acounting skills, credit and collection skills, web maintenance skills, and maybe a few other skills to boot.

I think you would be mistaken. He won't be running a web site, or a realty agency, or a collection agency, or anything, actually. He is going to be director of public affairs for the Land Bank. That is a communications position, for which I would think he would be rather well-suited. He is also supposed to be doing some kind of strategic planning. I don't know exactly what that means in this context, but a planning position shouldn't require any of the specific operational skills you mention.

[Smirnoff]

Doesn't everyone exclusively listen to Detroit Sports 105.1 and/or The Ticket 97.1.....other than Sirius/XM, guess not

[Honky Tonk]

I think you would be mistaken. He won't be running a web site, or a realty agency, or a collection agency, or anything, actually. He is going to be director of public affairs for the Land Bank. That is a communications position, for which I would think he would be rather well-suited. He is also supposed to be doing some kind of strategic planning. I don't know exactly what that means in this context, but a planning position shouldn't require any of the specific operational skills you mention.

I guess the Stategic Planners @ my end are different than the Strategic Planners @ your end, if @ least a portion of those skills aren't utilized in a housing market. But whatever, I'm sure he was the right choice for the job.

[motz]

So one of my friends was glad to see Craig go due to him being a "classist" and "racist", could anyone expand on this? Because that's a new one to me. I've heard the "limp wristed" comments, which seem to come from everyone believing a talk show host can't host a show to talk about things, they have to choose sides. And I've heard about his "liberal agenda" or his "love of charter schools", but those two allegations left me kind of dumb founded.

[noise]

He likely has a good, but not extravagant income.

His salary was $95K.