jdetroit

A how-to guide for making a Detroit documentary

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:51:00 -0500

The people over at Changing Gears decided to poke a little fun at some of the cliches that have become synonymous with documentaries about Detroit. We’ve all seen, or have at least heard of, the slew of recent Detroit docs that have been released in the past couple of years, some much worse than others.

Lucky for you though, if you happen to be an aspiring doc filmmaker because most of the legwork has already been done for you. Check out Changing Gears’ DIY Guide to making your own film about Motown and who knows, maybe you too could be holding your premiere at Sundance one day?

After you visually establish that Detroit is a rotting mess of industrial decay, you’ll need to remind your audience of the glory days. Be sure to refer to Detroit as the Motor City as much as possible.

You should also use phrases like “put the world on wheels,” “gave rise to the middle class” and “Paris of the Midwest.” You can even get archival footage of Detroit on YouTube.

Read the entire guide here.

Detroit's Interactive Newsman

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:45:00 -0500

Well, it only took me about a month to get around to posting this. Blame college, finals and life. Last month I met with Channel 7’s Stephen Clark to job shadow him for the night. Afterwards I had to write about my experience for one of my journalism classes. Here’s how my visit went.

I arrived at the studio, proudly known as ‘Broadcast House,’ around 5:50 p.m. just as Stephen Clark was preparing to go on the air for the 6 o’clock newscast. I was excited, but I was trying to stay collected. The last thing I wanted to be was star-struck. But, I had grown up watching Channel 7 and some of these reporters, and to actually meet them in person was exciting and a little daunting.

Stephen Clark greeted me in the lobby shortly after he wrapped the 6 o’clock. He had been tweeting at me throughout the show, which is something he’s actually become quite well known for doing. Clark started the #backchannel about two years ago as part of his vision of trying to reconnect with his audience. Twitter was still relatively new at the time, but Clark recognized the potential the new social media tool held.

Clark has never been the type of journalist to shun new technologies or reject new, maybe even better, ways to deliver the news. During our hour or so long talk at his desk in the newsroom he said something that really resonated with me. He said that we weren’t just journalists anymore, we weren’t just there to report the news—we’re content creators, and the form in which we produce this content and the mediums through which we deliver it is constantly evolving.

I decided a while ago to brand myself as a multimedia journalist. It seemed like the logical thing to do. After all, I wasn’t just a writer. I could make videos, I could take pictures, I could manage my own blog. But I also wanted to do broadcasting and so I thought that dubbing myself a multimedia journalist made the most sense, but now, I want to start thinking of myself as a content creator.

Clark didn’t get to where he is today because he had a good news voice or because he could read a teleprompter well, albeit those qualities I’m sure helped a little. He got to where he is today because he was never afraid to push the envelope, do more than what was expected of him, or learn new technologies or take different approaches to reporting. He’s a one-man-band. He writes his own copy, shoots his own video, edits his own packages and serves as the face of one of most storied and prominent news brands in Metro Detroit. That’s no small task.

For years Clark sat in front of the camera delivering the news to an audience that was on the other side of the glass. There was a barrier between him and those watching him and he grew tired of it, admittedly saying he grew bored with his job. He wanted the news to be interactive. He wanted to talk with his audience and have them talk back. The #backchannel—essentially a streaming conversation with his viewers through tweets—was born out of boredom, out of feeling complacent. As a young journalist I’ve learned that complacency in this business is a “four letter word.” Innovation, creativity and serious hard work are what separate good journalists from great ones.

Before I left, Clark said something to me along the lines of: as long as you want it bad enough, you’ll make it in this business. I think I might make it.

Light rail in Detroit is dead

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:26:00 -0500

For better or for worse, the plan to bring light rail to the city is history…at least for now, anyways.

The Detroit Free Press is reporting the plans were scrapped in favor of a new system of high-speed city and suburban busses.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told Detroit Mayor Dave Bing that doubts Detroit could pay operating costs over the long term for the Woodward Light Rail line because of it and the state’s financial problems swayed him against the plan.

It was a plan that had been four years in the making, and while it’s tough to see it fall through, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t completely surprised and not all that disappointed.

The idea to bring light rail and more public transportation to the city is an idea I have loved and supported since all this talk first began. BUT, the reality is that a line that runs solely up and down Woodward and doesn’t cross north of 8 Mile, just isn’t the best use of scarce funds and resources right now.

There’s been much debate about just exactly who this rail line would be benefitting, and many times it was compared to Detroit’s other infamous rail system the People Mover. I’ve personally talked with many people about the plan over the course of the past couple years, and more often than not, they were less than enthused by the idea. Truth be told, the more I thought about it, the more I started to feel the same.

Detroit doesn’t have the money, or the people, or the right amount of business yet. It comes down to the chicken or the egg debate: do you build the rail to bring the people and the businesses? Or do you wait for the people and the businesses and then build the rail?

I think the latter option is going to be the best option going forward. It will be interesting to see how this decision is received around the city and region.

Read the full story here.

Freep

Detroit News: Bing ready to wage 'war'

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:51:00 -0500

Even with all of the bright spots in Detroit—all the redevelopment projects, all the stories of new businesses and residents relocating back downtown—there’s a one large, continually growing cloud hanging over the city.

Detroit is almost out money.

And the man I thought would be able to get the city through this mess, along with a newly elected City Council I had so much faith in, seem to be letting me down—letting this city down.

At its core, the mayor’s emergency restructuring plan aims to cut spending $102 million over the next six months and avert a cash-flow crisis. To get there, Bing says, he would lay off 1,000 city employees and the unions would need to agree — by as early as next week — to reopen contracts and accede to 10-percent cuts in pay, a 30 percent employee share on health care premiums, pension restructuring, work rule changes and reduced overtime.

Today’s Detroit News reporting that now Bing has said he’s “ready to go to war” with City Council in order to implement his sweeping cuts and layoffs. Is this the kind of rhetoric though that’s really going to get things done? Has it really come to this?

How can the Mayor and the City Council be so desperately unwilling to work together?

“There’s a big difference intellectually between my staff and them; there’s a big difference operationally between my staff and them,” he continued. “They haven’t run anything. I am open and willing to work with them, but I am not taking direction from them. We’ve got to get away from politics.”

Read the full story here.

Photo by John T. Greilick / The Detroit News

Huffington Post: "Detroit," Meet Detroit

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:49:26 -0500

Didya hear? The Huffington Post is launching a new website called HuffPost Detroit that will be completely dedicated to countering the narrative of national media that “parachute in to cover the declining metropolis.”

Pretty cool, right?

And also, I couldn’t not blog about the column in today’s Huffington Post by Toby Barlow where he discusses something that I always seem to be talking about with people I know.

“Why do people who aren’t from Detroit (i.e. the suburbs) say they’re from Detroit?!?” is the usual whining question I receive from certain co-workers, friends and even some family.

My response, much like Barlow’s, usually goes something like this: if you’re from Southeast Michigan, which for all intents and purposes is Metro Detroit, you are in fact from Detroit.

But Barlow, goes a step further to explain just how important that tie is between the suburbs and the city itself, and why the sooner we all realize that Detroit and it’s surrounding suburbs are inseparable, the better off we will all be, and the better off the region as a whole will be in the end.

The fact is the suburbs have been trying to run away from Detroit for half a century and all it has brought is ruin and depression for all. It’s time to stop running. It’s time to embrace this place. Luckily for you, right now, it’s a wonderful town to embrace.

The fact is that too many of the suburbanites cling to a past Detroit that was and never will be again, and in the process they fail to recognize the positive changes that are taking place there today, right now.

People will say, “Oh it’s not like it was,” they’ll say they can’t bear what happened to Detroit, but they’re simply blind to the possibilities of the present. Nostalgia for an old bygone Detroit is fine, but it’s not relevant to what is happening on Michigan Avenue, on Woodward Avenue, and in Eastern Market right now.

I do have to make a point to say though that I don’t necessarily agree with Barlow’s blanket statement that “nothing good ever came out of suburbia.” While yes, I would love to see more people ditch the suburbs to move back into the city center, I acknowledge the realities of the situation. City living isn’t for everyone, that’s the honest truth, and quite frankly I had a pretty damn good upbringing in the suburbs so I understand the appeal to some people.

However, while I’m not asking for a mass exodus from the suburbs to downtown Detroit any time soon, I am asking that people at least give Detroit a chance, because like Barlow said: “Luckily for you, right now, it’s a wonderful town to embrace.”

Read the full column here.

Detroit's Deco Glory

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 10:28:43 -0500

The Detroit News put together a nice photo gallery documenting the best of Detroit’s historic downtown art deco architecture.

From the Penobscot Building to the Book Cadillac Hotel, many of Detroit’s oldest buildings have withstood the test of time while others have received thorough restorations.

Check out the gallery here.

Freep: 'People just love Detroit'

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 16:03:48 -0400

Jim Schaefer and John Gallagher write in today’s Free Press about the increasing amount of positive press being given to the city of Detroit by national media outlets. Could the tide be permanently turning finally?

Yes, the narrative seems to be changing. Those outside of Detroit are finally starting to come around and realize what many of us already knew.

But, here’s where the biggest challenge begins, at least I think so. Because, for so long Detroit has been the underdog, the hopeless city, the forgotten town that always had to prove itself.

Now that we’ve finally gotten the attention we deserve, we can’t simply declare victory because we’re nowhere near the finish line. Truth is, there’s a lot of work that still needs to be done. There’s still unemployment, there’s still a failing public school system, and Detroit’s population is still not where it should be.

But at least now, the rest of the country, and maybe even the world is watching, and maybe now they’re more willing and eager to root us on than tear us down.

And what sparked this latest wave of affection from afar? Growing signs of a rebound. And the same thing that so often draws the national spotlight: our sports teams. With an almost perfect storm of success, the undefeated Lions, the Yankee-killing Tigers and winning seasons for our two big college football teams are once again driving the deconstruction, reconstruction, explanations and excuses of an underdog town.

Check out some of the coverage the D has received recently:

Wall Street Journal - Detroit Sees Signs of Turnaround…

USA Today - Detroit Rising

Read the whole story here.

Eric Milliken/Detroit Free Press

huntrlangstn: Detroit Typography poster - Sand/Grey Metro...

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:47:11 -0400

huntrlangstn:

Detroit Typography poster - Sand/Grey

Metro Detroit is Detroit.

USA Today: Spirit of revival rolling through Detroit

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 08:42:00 -0400

Heading into mid-October with two winning sports teams, Detroit seems to be getting all kinds of attention lately.

But it’s not just the Tigers and Lions that are garnering all the national spotlight and headlines. Many writers and journalists around the country have been drawing deeper (albeit similar and a bit cliche at this point) connections between the city’s sports teams and the city itself.

It’s a familiar theme: our winning sports teams represent the unyielding hope, undying pride and overwhelming optimism the people of Detroit never seem to lose.

Yes, it’s a familiar theme that has been played out before, (I wrote about it many times) but it doesn’t mean it isn’t still very true.

These days, people think about Detroit a little differently.

A new spirit is heard in the euphoria for its professional sports teams: The Tigers are in the American League Championship Series, while the Lions are 4-0 for the first time since 1980 — and playing on Monday Night Football for the first time in a decade.

Read the whole story in today’s edition of USA Today here.

Picture by Jeff Burden

ericseals: Downtown Detroit shot from the roof of another...

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:54:12 -0400

ericseals:

Downtown Detroit shot from the roof of another building being restored to its former glory! Detroit’s got it goin on! (Taken with Instagram at Broderick Tower)

Photo

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 18:53:17 -0400

Tour de Troit

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 18:51:00 -0400

Biking through the city of Detroit?

Sure, some would never dare to venture out into the city on two lowly, human-powered wheels, but then again, many more than you probably would expect are.

It turns out that the Motor City is becoming increasingly more friendly to bicyclists and the 10th annual Tour de Troit is a prime example with more than 4,500 bicyclists taking to the streets this weekend.

Tour de Troit, which began and ended at Roosevelt Park, offered two ride options Saturday morning. A 22-mile slow-paced, police-escorted ride allowed bicyclists to go at their own pace as they explored the city. The Metric Century was a 62-mile ride for 250 of the more experienced riders.

Detroit now has more than 40 miles of bike-friendly lanes with more scheduled to be built and although the amount of bike commuters in the city—about 1,200—pales in comparison to places like New York or L.A., biking in the city is on the upswing.

That community has helped spur construction of a growing network of bike lanes on some of the city’s main streets, including Michigan Avenue. Detroit has about 40 miles of lanes, and more are scheduled.

Despite its reputation as the Motor City, many cycling enthusiasts see Detroit as being built for bikes, with flat, wide roads and a relative lack of motor traffic.

Check out the full story from the Detroit News here and take a look at pictures from this weekend’s 2011 Tour de Troit here in Freep.

Photo credit: Todd McInturf/Detroit News

jdetroit meets Moxie

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:23:00 -0400

A few weeks back I finally had the pleasure and opportunity to meet the woman behind one of the most successful Detroit blogs on the web. Becks Davis created Detroit Moxie back in 2008 and since that time it has taken off and gained a huge following.

In any case, shortly after our meeting, Becks had asked if I’d be willing to write a guest piece for Moxie about my experience working as an intern in the D this summer. And of course, I jumped at the chance!

Below is a little exerpt, you can check out the full post here.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a bit over the top when it comes to rooting for my hometown Detroit. And funny thing is, for quite a few years now, I knew I loved and supported the city, but unfortunately had never spent enough time in it to fully understand it and all of it’s complexities and it’s inevitable quirks.

Living & Investing in the D

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:11:14 -0400

Every year right around this time, Crain’s Detroit Business publishes their annual “Living & Investing in the D” magazine packed with tons of awesome info about all of the cool things going on in the city. From fantastic people and entrepreneurs to new businesses and housing projects, if you weren’t already convinced Detroit was worth investing in before you read, you’ll be hard pressed to not feel that way afterwards.

Being an intern and all over at Crains for the summer, I had the opportunity to produce all of the multimedia content for this year’s series. It was an absolute blast going all over the city meeting incredible visionaries and essentially getting a front-row seat to what living and working in the D is really like.

Some highlights from the 2011 issue:

The Changing Face of Detroit

Entrepreneur creates ‘hostel’ environment

Spreading Midtown’s Success

Value of Place

Conduit to College Grads

The Ultimate List

Plus, be sure to check out all the multimedia content as well. Below is one of the videos I worked on exploring the buzz in Midtown.

Production by Josh Sidorowicz/Crain’s Detroit Business

USA Today says to explore Corktown

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:10:44 -0400

USA Today recently put together a list of what they deemed to be the 10 best urban neighborhoods for exploring. Low and behold, Detroit’s own Corktown, a neighborhood I’ve gotten to know very well over the past couple weeks, made the list.

Being Motown’s oldest neighborhood, USA Today said the area is one the rise with young, new artists, musicians and professionals. My personal favorite stops along Michigan Avenue Slows BBQ and the new Astro Coffee shop also get a shout-out.

Other neighborhoods to make the list included Wicker Park in Chicago, South Lake Union in Seattle and the Fremont District in Las Vegas.

Check out the full story here.

First legal food truck hits Detroit streets

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:56:04 -0400

And Crain’s Detroit was first with the story! This past Friday El Guapo Mexican Grill opened for business on the corner of Randolph and Monroe street in downtown Detroit. The corner is a prime location backing up to Greektown and just blocks from the financial district and Campus Martius Park.

While other food truck operators in downtown Detroit have set up shop without permits, Anthony Curis and Doug Runyon, co-owners of El Guapo, made dozens of trips to City Hall to find a path to legality.

Check out the full story here and my video with El Guapo’s co-owener Douglas Runyon below. Ladies and gents, this is definitely the start of something fantastic for food culture the city of Detroit.

Production by Josh Sidorowicz/Crain’s Detroit Business

Eastern Market is now open during the week on Tuesdays through...

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 19:37:00 -0400

Eastern Market is now open during the week on Tuesdays through the end of September!

Production by Josh Sidorowicz/Crain’s Detroit Business

Woodward light-rail plans moves forward

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 11:48:53 -0400

Plans for the new M1 Woodward light rail project took a big leap forward today and the Free Press has all the deets.

It appears that city officials and the feds were able to come to a consensus on one of the major issues holding the project back: where exactly to place the tracks. And now it appears the rail system will have the best of both worlds with center-running tracks from 8 Mile south to New Center. From Grand Blvd the tracks will diverge and run along the sidewalks all the way into the downtown area where the rails will meet up with the Rosa Parks Transportation Center west of Woodward.

The trains would serve 19 stops along the 9-mile route, including 10 on Woodward between Campus Martius downtown and Grand Boulevard in the New Center — prime locations where the city is banking on transit to stimulate promising clusters of commercial and residential redevelopment.

Those crucial design and route decisions are part of an agreement the city said it has reached with the federal government, a major step forward on the $500-million project to build light rail on Woodward.

The new route will also apparently have more stops than initially planned and will stop within blocks of many of the downtown major attractions including Hart Plaza and the sporting stadiums.

Read the full article here.

Map courtesy of Freep

Loving Detroit despite...

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:04:00 -0400

Nolan Finley summed it up pretty well in this past Sunday’s Detroit News. Finley’s column this week discussed a subject that is far from original but one that still manages to stir some good emotion.

I know right here on this blog, I’ve talked several times about why I love Detroit and why I choose to blog about it and promote it and I know I’m not the first and definitely won’t be the last.

Finley borrowed a line from one of my favorite authors William Faulkner in his attempt to describe his love with the city.

William Faulkner wrote of the South, you don’t love it because, you love it despite.

And ain’t that the truth. We love Detroit even when Detroit doesn’t love itself, even when it seems like every force imaginable is working against it there are still plenty of people out there who’s love affair with the city continues. We just continue to stick it out.

So maybe we love Detroit because it needs us so much.

Or maybe it’s enough to just say there’s a lid for every pot, and we’re Detroit’s.

Read Finley’s full column here.

Food Carts: Watching news develop in Detroit

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:26:05 -0400

It has been quite entertaining this past week watching the food cart story catch on around Metro Detroit. Entertaining because it was over a week ago that little ‘ol Crain’s Detroit Business broke the story first and since then the Detroit News and The Free Press have all finally hopped on board.

Being in (or at least attempting to become a part of) the news business here in Detroit and being able to watch this story grow from something my editor proposed to me a week and a half ago (that had never even crossed my radar beforehand) to now something that is going to be a major narrative in the city going forward is pretty exciting.

But nonetheless, the more exposure this issue receives the better because, simply put, it is just one more facet to the ever-growing resurgence we are seeing taking place in and around the city. I can only hope that it continue to pick up momentum as the summer wears on and that changes will be made soon. But in the meantime, keep an eye on Crain’s coverage.

Josh Sidorowicz/Crain’s Detroit Business