NEWSLETTER

BY THOMAS MORTON

Hi, here I am in front of the landscape that photographers always use to illustrate the jarring contrast between poverty (as represented by a desolate alley) and wealth (as symbolized by the fancy GM skyscraper in the back). That white building on the left is one of Detroit’s most successful grinding plants. Photo by Joseph Patel

After suffering through the nation’s worst and most concentrated examples of racial violence, industrial collapse, serial arson, crack war, and municipal bankruptcy following years of municipal kleptocracy, Detroit is being descended on by a plague of reporters. If you live on a block near one of the city’s tens of thousands of abandoned buildings, you can’t toss a chunk of Fordite without hitting some schmuck with a camera worth more than your house.

The interest in coverage is legitimate—if you search places like Digg or Reddit for Detroit stories, even totally boring news items like a hiring jump at the local wind-energy plant number in the thousands. And God help you if the piece has anything to do with urban decay. When Vice UK ran a little series of photos by James Griffioen of the demolished interior of an abandoned Detroit public school, it tripled our website’s traffic for nearly a week.

The problem is it’s reached the point where the potential for popularity or “stickiness” or whatever you’re supposed to call it now is driving the coverage more than any sort of newsworthiness of the subject. There’s a total gold-rush mentality about the D right now, and all the excitement has led to some real lapses in basic journalistic ethics and judgment. Like the French filmmaker who came to Detroit to shoot a documentary about all the deer and pheasants and other wildlife that have been returning to the city. After several days without seeing a wild one he had to be talked out of renting a trained fox to run through the streets for the camera. Or the Dutch crew who decided to go explore the old project tower where Smokey Robinson grew up and promptly got jacked for their thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment.

The flip side is a simultaneous influx of reporters who don’t want anything to do with the city but feel compelled by the times to get a Detroit story under their belts, like it’s the journalistic version of cutting a grunge record.

“Time magazine sent a 24-year-old guy to Detroit,” James Griffioen told me. “They wouldn’t let him rent a car, so he was dropped off in a cab downtown. He’s there for six hours and he’s supposed to write a feature article on Detroit. For Time. He had a meeting with the mayor in the morning, the mayor stood him up, then he had a meeting with me, and that was it.”

For a while James was getting four to five calls a week from outside journalists looking for someone to sherpa them to the city’s best shitholes, but they’ve finally begun leaving him alone since he started telling them to fuck off.

“At first, you’re really flattered by it, like, ‘Whoa, these professional guys are interested in what I have to say and show them.’ But you get worn down trying to show them all the different sides of the city, then watching them go back and write the same story as everyone else. The photographers are the worst. Basically the only thing they’re interested in shooting is ruin porn.”

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Comments

Anonymous, on Nov 20, 2009 wrote: This was such a good story I had to comment. Well done Thomas.
Anonymous, on Nov 5, 2009 wrote: Yeah but don’t act like it’s all good. Detroit is a shithole. Like you said those Dutch guys still got jacked for their shit.
Anonymous, on Nov 5, 2009 wrote: A Detroit photographer should do portraits of all the lost dweeby journalists and photogs who come there to shoot the blight.
Anonymous, on Nov 2, 2009 wrote: I think your article raises some good questions. In a time when we really need good journalism, very few sources are actually providing not only news, but analysis of that news. We really need this right now, but increasingly we are seeing at best one-dimensional, uninformed pieces and, at worst, blatant lies.
	anonymouse, on Oct 26, 2009 wrote: i think i’d take oklahoma over michigan. no offense.
Anonymous, on Oct 26, 2009 wrote: I work in downtown detroit. One morning while having coffee at my favorite spot (the Coffee Cafe - try it if you’re in town), a man identified himself as a reporter from Israel in town to cover the General Motors bankruptcy. He asked me where he could go to talk to local business owners about the bankruptcy. I told him he could try the General Motors world headquarters which was a five minute walk away. He seemed shocked to learn that GM headquarters were downtown. He didn’t bother to find that out before he came here. I’m sure his article reflected the same level of insight. Another story I read, I think in the London Times, described how sad everbody walking downtown was (which I never noticed before, but then again, as a reporter, the writer is probably more sensitive to other people’s feelings than I am), and how GM’s bankruptcy seemed to weigh down the town, and he ended the story saying that all he could do after seeing so much human despair was to eat his soup. Such symbolism! I wish I had a copy of every one of these stupid articles and TV news stories (the reporters ALWAYS stand in front of some old factory dating from the early 1900’s). Detroit has been the way it is for decades, but now it’s news! This article hit the nail on the head. Well done!
Anonymous, on Oct 26, 2009 wrote: I’m not really sure what the point of this is. Yes, journalists often run in packs. Always have. Is that the point? Or is it that journalists concentrate on the negative? Another brilliant observation. And please, if you’re critiquing real journalists for their work, don’t use a French documentarian or a "Dutch crew" as an example. By the way, it sounds like you talked to two people for the story, one of them your own photographer. Before you attack reporters for their coverage, perhaps you should try a little reporting. As a journalist who grew up in Flint and lived in Detroit, I feel like the country is finally figuring out what’s happening in Michigan. I welcome the coverage.
Anonymous, on Oct 23, 2009 wrote: Did someone from Oklahoma just say something about Michigan? So that WAS cowshit I smelled.
Anonymous, on Oct 22, 2009 wrote: Maybe someone already pointed this out, but East Detroit WAS a city, they’re now called Eastpointe so as not to be associated with Detroit’s poor reputation, but that’s another story. When you say East Detroit, Mr. Morton, east should not be capitalized. More correctly, you could call it Detroit’s eastside as we Detroiters would. Good story anyway, and I’ve never been asked for a tour by a journalist... along with 900,000 others in this city...
	halzer, on Oct 22, 2009 wrote: nice there you got there, buddy. did you stop to consider that oklahoma might not need the country’s largest trauma center since its citizens are putting bullets in each others skulls on an hourly basis?
Anonymous, on Oct 22, 2009 wrote: If the entire state of Michigan is a shithole then what is Oklahoma? I really don’t think that the state that has claim to one of the largest fresh water reserves in the country, has the no.3 hospital in the country(University of MI.), has the largest single campus medical school in the country (Wayne State U.) and The no. 1 truama center in the country (Detroit Receiving Hospital) and is the main conduit of goods and fuel from Canada (U.S. no 1 oil supplier and trading partner) could be characterized as that. By 2012 the state will have 5 med schools and the money from the R & D is already flowing to MSU, U of M, Henry Ford Hospital (no. 17 in the country) and Wayne. With good governence,luck and investment, we’ll survive not as what we used to be (once the richest city in america) but, as something different and manageable. Pittsburg did. Wait 20 years.
Anonymous, on Oct 20, 2009 wrote: Wow seems like some people are jealous they don’t write for Vice. Stop Hating because your working some crap job. If he was and idiot his article wouldn’t have been published. It is awful nice to hide behind the obscurity of "anonymous" and then call a published person an idiot. You people suck
Anonymous, on Oct 15, 2009 wrote: the idea of thomas morton lecturing the rest of journalism on ethics is almost as laughable as the premise of this shitty article, viz. that detroit is an economically and culturally happening place. the entire state of michigan is a hell hole and when i read the part where he identifies "one of Detroit’s most successful grinding plants" i wanted more information because i have a vague feeling that this thomas morton guy is getting shit past his editor.
Anonymous, on Oct 15, 2009 wrote: As a Detroiter I always enjoy reading these insipid stories about the city. They are always written by some frustrated novelist who couldn’t be bothered by doing the research a real journalist might do - all they write are sensitive "impressions" of the city, as if 60 years of history didn’t exist. It’s scary knowing what kind of lazy shitheads control the world’s media these days.
Anonymous, on Oct 15, 2009 wrote: Well news for you - I’m afraid Detroit is an almost complete failure and a warning sign for the way business has been run for about 30 or 40 years now. I grew up about 2 hours away in Ontario and have only seen the place get worse. The irony is that Detroit used to be an example of American prosperity. Time for us to change the way we conduct our society. Detroit is an unacceptable failure, an object lesson in how not to run things. This cancer must not be allowed to spread.
Anonymous, on Oct 2, 2009 wrote: what a boring piece.
Anonymous, on Oct 1, 2009 wrote: isn’t the second picture part of a Kid Rock music video?
Anonymous, on Sep 30, 2009 wrote: "I miss the old internet. backgrounds were blue, GIFs moved, and you could post an excellent article about Detroit without the lower 2/3 of every page getting pockmarked by anonymous snark-snipers." funny but animated gifs are more annoying that gloria estefan music at the supermarket.
	sbay33, on Sep 29, 2009 wrote: I miss the old internet. backgrounds were blue, GIFs moved, and you could post an excellent article about Detroit without the lower 2/3 of every page getting pockmarked by anonymous snark-snipers.
Anonymous, on Sep 23, 2009 wrote: popewatchnow.wordpress.com is awesome
Anonymous, on Sep 23, 2009 wrote: See Gotryke.com for the history of Detroit media coverage.
Anonymous, on Sep 21, 2009 wrote: MOCAD, Tour Detroit, Dally in the Alley, Heidelberg Project, Summer in the City, Earthworks, Peoples Arts Festival, Forans, Eastern Market, Dequindre Cut, Indian Village, 4th Street Fair, etc, etc, etc????Cmon, no offense, but you could find the same shit in any other major city. MOCAD is just like any other generic contemporary art place. I think Tyree Guyton is a cool dude, and his stuff is interesting. If you have seen it once though, you don’t need to see it again. And that’s just one city block in a place that was designed for two million people. Cass? Same old same old. Forans is just like any other Irish pub with some age and charm. Eastern Market? Check ’stuff white people like.’ YES, Detroit has some cool stuff, and again it’s one of the most unique places in the world. However, I think that most of the residents in the city(poor black people) could give two shits about all the ’hip’ stuff to do,urban decay being ’beautiful’, or fixing up old mansions in Indian Village. I think they would want an article that tells about faulty police and fire departments, lack of safety in their neighborhoods, or revitalization projects that extend past trying to redress Woodward. Not too mention that the city is fuckin bankrupt. Detroit is a cool place(former workers paradise and all...hehe), but I think it might be one of the most over-hyped also.
Anonymous, on Sep 17, 2009 wrote: I wish this also showed all the amazing street art, functioning(and non-functioning) architecture, the cool neighborhoods, local markets, riverfront spots, and urban greenways that have been popping up because of so many people’s hard work. Next time someone wants to write something about Detroit, why the hell don’t they ask me to show them around? This City is hard to explain, and hard to show, but I’m POSTIVE I could do a better job that whoever showed you around. You maybe you just chose to leave out 1/2 the story about Detroit. I really was hoping that the point would be that Detroit isn’t all pheasants and ghetto (although thats alot of it, and its not all bad). The truth is, Detroit will never be what it was. After being crippled by the auto industry, poor city planning, and social issues, the City is now in a position to truly reinvent itself. In a really interesting way, its a strange land of opportunity. You can do anything you dream here. Theres space for new ideas and large-scale visualizations. Bring your dreams here, we’d love a few more in the mix. Heres some things to google if youd like to learn about the awesomer parts of my city: MOCAD, Tour Detroit, Dally in the Alley, Heidelberg Project, Summer in the City, Earthworks, Peoples Arts Festival, Forans, Eastern Market, Dequindre Cut, Indian Village, 4th Street Fair, etc, etc, etc.
	yseson, on Sep 7, 2009 wrote: Vice is almost entertainingly trfling, and unashamedly hipster culture promoting funness. But every other issue theres an article like this one that makes me think you guys really think you are journalist. This was one of those, thanks.
Anonymous, on Sep 3, 2009 wrote: Great article, a lot of people like to be a part of, or talk about the problem. Very few like to do something about it. Detroit, and America aren’t going to get better unless we all pitch in. SS
Anonymous, on Sep 3, 2009 wrote: "THOMAS MORTON you’re truly idiot for using the phrase "severed baby’s clit" what hell were you thinking?" I’m with you. I was hoping to keep that secret all to myself. Now it’s out. Oh well. They’re awesome!!!
Anonymous, on Sep 3, 2009 wrote: THOMAS MORTON you’re truly idiot for using the phrase "severed baby’s clit" what hell were you thinking?
Anonymous, on Sep 2, 2009 wrote: Well, about all I can say honestly is that the news media is, in fact, wasting its time. I don’t give much of a damn about Detroit, or its current or former manufacturies, or what the reporters say about it, or what the automobile companies are going to do. Figure it the fuck out, then let me know later when it comes time to actually spend my money. And then I will say yes or no.
Anonymous, on Aug 31, 2009 wrote: wow, a TIME’s detroit bureau. that’s sorta cool.
Anonymous, on Aug 29, 2009 wrote: 1,000 disinterments in less than ten years seems really extreme to me (the average price of funeral as of 2006 is a little under $7,000; even if we leave out the cost of digging up the body, we’re talking about an approx $1 million spike in the suburban funeral industry’s annual income) but it would be interesting to see this next to disinterment stats from NY, LA and the like over the same period. Get on that, Vice.
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