Charlie LeDuff stays home, joins Fox 2

**BShea** · December-02-10, 10:20 PM

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...detroits-fox-2

High-profile multimedia reporter Charlie LeDuff, who left The Detroit News in October after two years, has joined Detroit Fox affiliate WJBK Ch. 2 to do on-air journalism.

"People that don't read watch TV. People that do read watch TV," he told me earlier tonight. His first report, a follow-up story on a previous Fox 2 piece he did on Detroit EMT problems, aired tonight on WJBK's 10 p.m. newscast.

Blarf · December-03-10, 12:17 AM

Major bummer.

**gnome** · December-03-10, 05:44 AM

That is great news.

**Gannon** · December-03-10, 05:54 AM

Thanks for the scoop, Bill.

I am very happy to know that Charlie will remain in the city...with an effective platform for him to report and storytell from.

Cheers

**rjk** · December-03-10, 06:18 AM

I have a hard time coming up with reasons to watch local news, but CL is someone that I'll check out.

Count me as a big fan of his, I'm glad he's staying in the area.

**Meddle** · December-03-10, 06:39 AM

with an effective platform

Fox? Ha!!

Dude needs to watch for the guy with the saw cutting the hole in that platform around his feet like an old Looney Tunes cartoon.

**Gannon** · December-03-10, 07:15 AM

It is better than just posting on some internet forum or blog, that is for certain.

He gets one thing wrong, though...not everyone watches television. I will have to either wait for uploads on the 'net, or finally hook up some of my hifi and video equipment again...string up an antenna on the roof to snag over-the-air television freely.

Cheers!

**Lowell** · December-03-10, 07:40 AM

I too am happy to see him remain here. Sure he can occasionally tend toward the sensational, but that's part of his job. You don't get paid for being boring in that business. He is a good writer and knows how to get to the center of issues. Welcome [to staying at] home Charlie.

**mauser** · December-03-10, 08:06 AM

Amen Lowell, was scrolling down to write exactly that. If you have ever sat and talked with him, he is a great guy who actually cares about what he is doing. And he is good at it.

**Johnlodge** · December-03-10, 08:35 AM

Originally Posted by Meddle

with an effective platform

Fox? Ha!!

Dude needs to watch for the guy with the saw cutting the hole in that platform around his feet like an old Looney Tunes cartoon.

I hate national Fox News as much as the next slappy DY liberal, but the local Fox affiliate is actually my favorite of the 3. Although, I only watch morning news, so take that for what it's worth. Al Allen is the man.

**stinkytofu** · December-03-10, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by Johnlodge

I hate national Fox News as much as the next slappy DY liberal, but the local Fox affiliate is actually my favorite of the 3. Although, I only watch morning news, so take that for what it's worth. Al Allen is the man.

Over the last six months or so FOX 2 news has really fallen off a cliff [[at least at night). Their attempt to mix presenting the news with entertaining you in odd ways is abysmal. Way too much silly stuff for my liking.

Blarf · December-03-10, 09:04 AM

I guess reporters can make stuff up and fabricate stories, and nobody will mind. Ohh well.

I mean, he's really entertaining and he really opens our eyes to important issues that other reporters don't talk about!

**Johnlodge** · December-03-10, 09:17 AM

Originally Posted by stinkytofu

Over the last six months or so FOX 2 news has really fallen off a cliff [[at least at night). Their attempt to mix presenting the news with entertaining you in odd ways is abysmal. Way too much silly stuff for my liking.

From an archived thread in 2007:

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/...tml?1191325214

**One Shot** · December-03-10, 09:43 AM

His plan seems to have worked? Run shocking stories and make a name for yourself-move up in the world to a TV gig. Hey its a dog eat dog world!

**kraig** · December-03-10, 09:48 AM

Originally Posted by Blarf

I guess reporters can make stuff up and fabricate stories, and nobody will mind. Ohh well.

I mean, he's really entertaining and he really opens our eyes to important issues that other reporters don't talk about!

What did he make up or fabricate?

**Lowell** · December-03-10, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by One Shot

His plan seems to have worked? Run shocking stories and make a name for yourself-move up in the world to a TV gig. Hey its a dog eat dog world!

He has a Pulitzer under his belt and more so he has no need to make a name. In today's media one not only needs to report one has to make sure to be heard. He has both skills and is talented in on screen presentation as well.

**Detroitnerd** · December-03-10, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by kraig

What did he make up or fabricate?

Detroit hockey enthusiasts blithely skating around a dead body with its feet sticking up out of the ice. Never happened. But the story was so good Chuckles didn't let the facts get in the way ...

**kraig** · December-03-10, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Detroit hockey enthusiasts blithely skating around a dead body with its feet sticking up out of the ice. Never happened. But the story was so good Chuckles didn't let the facts get in the way ...

What never happened? Are you saying that there wasn't a dead body found in the warehouse? If so, that was the best magic trick I've ever seen.

**Danny** · December-03-10, 02:39 PM

Yay! Print is dead!

**Carey** · December-03-10, 03:24 PM

Charlie is one of the most interesting journalists to work in Detroit in memory. Look at his track record: In his 30s, he became a big name at one of the best and biggest papers in the world, and he did it in New York, the global media capital that is jammed with journalists of every type. He also helped the Times win a Pulitzer for a long series of stories by many reporters in which his tale of working at a racially diverse meat plant was one of the most memorable.

I've obviously been a fan for years, and I think many of his stories in Detroit were excellent tales of a hurting city where life -- not the stories of life -- can be sensational. Yet any fair look at his record will show issues: Metro Times pointed out problems with his frozen-man story, and he has encountered plagiarism charges in the past. His video on the guy who sells coon meat treaded the line between condescension and racism, and he did the story a couple of weeks after Blogger John did it in MT. Charlie can be a blowhard, and he's edgy in a Steve Wilson sort of way. He also has two attributes not shared by every TV reporter in Detroit: He's smart and he knows how to find a tell a story. I'm looking forward to seeing him on Channel 2.

Blarf · December-03-10, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by kraig

What did he make up or fabricate?

A certain story that ran almost two years ago. That's the only one I know of for sure.

I assumed if he did it once, he probably does it in all or most of his stories.