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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?
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.
Who would invest in a newspaper these days?
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.
Here's the scoop.
http://www.wwj.com/Stop-the-Presses-...Daily-/4557651
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I seem to have stumbled into a parallel world Detroit, where there are no print newspapers anymore.
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?
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..
Ah, somebody who lives outside the parallel universe.Quote:
Originally Posted by scuola
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by sehender1
"Crowdsourcing" is what Gannett prefers...
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..
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.
I had a follow-up story on the Press in Monday's Crain's, FYI.
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.
I'd make a modest investment toward a start-up and subscribe for a year or so to see if it's worthwhile.
Am I having deja vu? I could have sworn I saw something about this on the forum about a year ago. If there were a new paper available I would definitely buy it as long as it wasn't too much of a rag.
It will be a sad day when there are no more printed newspapers. I blame people such as my kids. They will probably never buy a paper. Also sad because I probably won't be able to go to the bathroom anymore. I just can't see sitting there with a laptop!
I love how publications that call themselves "REAL DETROIT" or "DETROIT DAILY PRESS" are not based in Detroit proper.
High-flyin' rhetoric at their Facebook page, which kenp linked to this AM.Really? That's what they're going with?Quote:
An unparalleled calibre of talent from The Free Press, The Detroit News, Oakland Press, and other news sources, are on board to give metro Detroiters the daily newspaper they're clamoring for. An unparalleled calibre of talent from The Free Press, The Detroit News, Oakland Press, and other news sources, are on board to give metro Detroiters the daily newspaper they're clamoring for. . . . The Detroit Daily Press has its finger on the pulse of the tri-county area.
* Unparalleled anywhere in the known universe of journalism, or just the English-speaking world?Amateurish start.
* Calibre spelled that way as a nod to Canadian neighbours or our British roots?
* Metro folks are clamoring for a new daily paper? In print? These are people who've quit the chain dailies, but clamor for local indie journalism . . . or non-readers who don't yet realize this is what they're clamoring for?
* And what's up Doc with this pulse-taking - - we getting a newspaper or another health plan? Deliver news; hold the cliches.
Wha'd you expect? Parralleled? Uninterested? Pulse robbing? It's called marketing. Or, in a parallel universe, lieing.Quote:
Originally Posted by RealityCheck
Actually, Jack Webb put it well as Sgt. Joe Friday on Dragnet:Quote:
Originally Posted by 1KielsonDrive
[[Yes, I dropped the "ma'am" part, Sir.)Quote:
All we want are the facts . . .
All I know are the facts . . .
Point is, getting hard-sell marketing hype/boasts/spin/shilling from a not-yet-published newspaper doesn't exactly inspire confidence that we'll get a serious, professionally edited, trustworthy addition to Detroit journalism .
The News, Freep and Metro Times market themselves without crass, midway-like barking reminiscent of "The Greatest Show on Earth." Come to think, maybe the Stern Bros. believe there's a sucker born every minute.
I tried to open the Crains article but you need a login. I could care less about their marketing on Facebook, its good to finally hear about this again. The bottom line is we will all find out what this paper has to offer when it comes out, then decide if we want to subscribe.
Any additional information would be great.
Announcement on Friday. I'll be covering it, so check crainsdetroit.com for updates then.
Got my hands on their commemorative first issue today. Twas on the thin side, of course, but that's just a sneak peek. Looks like all the bones are in place. Now to add some meat to those bones. A little disheartening to see Rob Parker's worn-out byline in there. Tired old sports drivel from yet another sports clown. Looking forward to see how the Daily Press pans out over the next few months.
Ah, the same Rob Parker who predicted the death of print journalism when he left the News?
Rob Parker? Great! Now if they can just steal Mitch Albom away that'll ensure I'll never buy their paper.
Maybe because most of what constitutes "Detroit" is no longer in the city limits?Quote:
Originally Posted by Detroitnerd
What's more "real"? The middle class families of Macomb County, or the wasteland that is much of the East Side of Detroit?
"A newspaper is not just for reporting the news. It is to get people mad enough to do something about it."~Mark Twain
It would be great if we had such a newspaper. :D
Well, if you're a newspaper, you usually set up your headquarters near what you'll be reporting on. That's why the Detroit dailies, heck, even Metro Times, are a few blocks from Detroit's municipal center. That physical presence makes it easier to report on city government, and to swing out to stories in the surrounding areas.Quote:
Originally Posted by crawford
A newspaper like Real Detroit covers mostly the suburban bar scene, with occasional forays down Woodward. It makes sense why they're headquartered in Ferndale: That's central to what they cover. Same thing with Hour Magazine in Royal Oak: It covers suburban upscale dining, suburban homes, with plenty of luxury advertising for the wealthier folks out there.
The idea that a "Detroit" daily would set up shop in Royal Oak suggests to me a few possibilities.
1) These guys are not serious about covering downtown Detroit.
2) These guys are older suburbanites who don't care to commute very far from where they live.
3) These guys are hobbyists setting up shop in their basement or garage.
None of those conclusions is very flattering.
I'll be waiting to see what Shea comes up with by way of coverage before I leap to any conclusions, though. My initial skepticism remains, for now.
No idea about the other points you made, but they have set up shop at the former home of the Daily Tribune newspaper on Third Street in downtown Royal Oak. The Tribune moved out of that building and into the Macomb Daily offices in Mt. Clemens late last year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Detroitnerd
I'm intrigued to see what they produce. Although I wouldn't be surprised if it's a NY Post style paper for Detroit.
fishwrap: It's entirely possible that it's my complete pessimism at work. ;)
From an era when newspapers were important at least to the people who wanted to know something. OTOH, maybe Hearst took this comment from Twain when he reported on the sinking of the Maine.Quote:
Originally Posted by det313grrl
I don't think they suggested they're just covering Detroit. They said from the start they're covering Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Maybe it makes sense then to be in RO? They've also said they'll targeting traditional readers who prefer a home-delivered newspaper daily. I'd guess their target audience lives in the 'burbs, but we'll know more tomorrow.
No. They are not Detroit. East Side "wasteland" is the REAL Detroit. And Downtown And West Side and SW Side. NOT ferndale.Quote:
Originally Posted by crawford
I'm sick of hearing about suburban places robing the Detroit name. Just like they robbed all the people and stores and investment. But even tho they have all that, they are still not Detroit.
"Read Detroit" is a sham. Who do they really think they are calling themselves not only Detroit, but REAL Detroit?!?! I have all a question... how many people of color are pictured or writen about in RD? Not many. Why dont they rename themselves Real White Suburban Detroit? Guess it doesnt ring, eh? Well maybe they should actually locate in Detroit and start covering the real Detroit they CHOOSE to ignore.
Have you completely forgotten about the Freep and KwameGate?Quote:
Originally Posted by det313grrl
How about today's front page story in the News about the blatant abuse of forfeiture laws by Metro Detroit police? If that doesn't get some people mad, I don't know what will.
http://detnews.com/article/20091112/...n-the-innocent
If the new daily can break important stories like that, more power to 'em. There's plenty of news here to keep them busy.
I think that any newspaper in this region would succeed if they concentrated on LOCAL news, not just parroting national or international wire service reports. IT seems as if every paper around here wants to cover everything, and ends up covering nothing. National and international news is great, but you can get that a lot of different places. Cut that back to a half a section, then go all out on local.
What do you have to lose? :D
I agree totally with that sentiment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stosh
They don't focus on Detroit [[as both are in the 'burbs), but C&G News [[www.candgnews.com) and the Observer/Eccentric [[www.hometownlife.com) both fill this niche well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stosh
For those ripping on Real Detroit Weekly -- have they ever claimed to be anything more than an entertainment rag? While the Metro Times is more newsy, I don't think Real Detroit does any sort of news whatsoever.
I can't see how a bi weekly paper can be considered local news, maybe more like local history by the time you get it. C&G fills a niche, but only in relation to what amounts to an advertising cow. I WANT to hear about Detroit, as well as the burbs.Quote:
Originally Posted by thefishwrap
Real Detroit as news? Ha.
Metro Times? Not so much either.
I'm lookin forward to more options.
Stosh: well both of those weekly chains provide local content free of national/international news, as you suggested earlier. If you live in the suburbs, you are not going to find information about what's happening in your neighborhood without those chains.
But you are right, the options for a Detroit+suburb paper is severely diminished. I guess that's what this new daily might try to be. I'm certainly intrigued on what they might produce.
I don't get the OE where I am, I do get the C&G though. About 3 pages of local "local" news. Not a peep about elsewhere. And really, people living in Detroit don't get much info either, outside of City Hall BS.Quote:
Originally Posted by thefishwrap
News you can use... A slogan of some news station here. That should be the whole philosophy of any newspaper. I suppose it's subjective, but it's not too much to ask for a little current events in the "hood"? Current crime blotter? Local events publicized on a timely basis? Publicized at all?
You get a standing ovation for this post. It's almost like when people here at Michigan or in the tricounty area make comments that imply that "no one" lives in Detroit.Quote:
Originally Posted by casscorridor
Forget anyone who says my family, my friends, and I are less real than folks north of 8 mile or west of Telegraph... actually, make that west of Merriman and north of 14/15 mile. The cultural and social boundaries of the metro have changed... note that the person you're responding to didn't compare middle class families in Macomb County to middle class families in SOUTHFIELD or REDFORD. Things that make you go hmmm...
So says someone who lives in the suburb of Ann Arbor.
Meanwhile, Metro Detroit can do without the divisive "us vs them" mentality.
Who is more real? Neither.
So says someone who goes to graduate school on Michigan's campus... wow, you got me!Quote:
Originally Posted by East Detroit
Not.
No one except a few grouches on DetroitYES think that someone seeking higher education and living on a university campus is a permanent resident of the place they're going to school. Real Detroiters don't have this problem. Neither do my graduate school friends, who think Michigan is a backwater and plan to use this state [[and your tax dollars) for its fancy terminal degrees, and then hightail it "back to civilization"... a common phrase up here.
A divisive us vs. them mentality exists when I see recurring threads on DetroitYES like "Why won't women come into the city of Detroit?" when hundreds of THOUSANDS of women live in Detroit, or hear people say things like "well, the neighborhoods where people live are __insert fashionable hood here___." Or, heard ALL over this region, "No one actually LIVES in Detroit."Quote:
Meanwhile, Metro Detroit can do without the divisive "us vs them" mentality.
The caricaturization of the citizens of Detroit is a very, very common meme in SE Michigan, which is what set the previous poster off.... to which I say, "amen". People who have darkness in their souls ought to be exposed to the light. If you do not consider your fellow men, women, and children PEOPLE... well... of course you want to be divided from them.
I'll never forget the Free Press editorial that I read as a 12 year old growing up in DETROIT in 1989, without much personal awareness of the sickness of our region. It was a rant from a suburban woman in Roseville who said that Detroit needed to be quarantined to protect decent people from the rotting cancer within.
In retrospect, she sounded like a vocal minority of DetroitYES posters.
In this context, you couldn't be more wrong. Real Detroiters actually live in the city of Detroit... because there are still PEOPLE in the city.Quote:
Who is more real? Neither.
Tidbits from pre-launch comments by publishers Gary + Mark Stern this AM, which I observed as a guest:
- First issue: Mon, 11/23 @ 3,500 stores . . . street sales only during 1st week. 16 pages. Will be sampled "to every home" in metro area.
- Delivery: Starts 11/30, 7 days/wk ... still 16 pp "until ad sales grow."
- Editorial staff: Just over half-dozen News/Freep alums, including Rob Parker, Keith Gave, John Smyntek, Christy Arboscello, Kristin Bull . . . other pros such as Kim Crawford [[Flint Journal), Doug Henze [[Oak Press), Christy Strawser [[Daily Trib/Mac Daily). James Briggs [[Ann Arbor News). George Cantor will contribute sports cols. Rest are young career-starters.
- Editorial page: No staff editorials, just guest columns + letters [["a multiplicity of voices").
- Ad reps: Straight commission, no base, no payment 'til invoices paid.
- Paywall: Full online content for subscibers only; unpaid access only to daily news digest.
- Sunday edition: Includes TV mag and Parade -- "with Mitch Albom's column every week!"
Expect more from Bill Shea soon at crain.com, as he vowed.
[Also, this via Nathan Hurst at DetNews: Staffers won't receive their first paycheck until after Nov. 16, when the company's first official operating week begins.]
Today is the first day the paper hits the news stands- has anyone picked up a copy?
Entire family prior to my generation were born and raised in Detroit AND I was born in Detroit...so am I a Detroiter? Am I from Detroit? Neither? Let's explore:Quote:
Originally Posted by English
I grew up in Sterling Heights and then Rochester...definitely NOT Detroit, right?
Moved to Detroit to go to school...first year at U of D dorms [[not Detroit?), then spent 3 years living in the surrounding neighborhood, but not the University District [[not really Detroit, right?), but by Dexter/Puritan [[a little more like Detroit, but I was a student, so not really Detroit).
Then I moved to Royal Oak [[NOT Detroit, right?), Pleasant Ridge [[S. of 696, getting warmer, but NOT Detroit), Hamtramck [[depends on what part, but I was renting and also starting grad school, so not Detroit), Cass Corridor [[but near Wayne State and I was a student AND I'm white, so not really Detroit), then back to Royal Oak [[already established, not Detroit).
Soo....now in Harper Woods, which is more than 50% minority by some accounts AND it is an "inner ring" suburb. So I'm now a Detroiter? I also pay Detroit City taxes, so maybe I'm more of a Detroiter? Or am I from Detroit? Wait, my school system is Grosse Pointe, so now I am definitely NOT Detroit. But I spend almost all of my waking hours IN Detroit, so am I Detroit? Whew, that's a tough one.
Am I a Detroiter? Am I from Detroit? Am I an ex-Detroiter? Am I Metro Detroit? Am I....blah blah blah.
Boy trying to figure all of this out sure seems a waste of time.
I'll give that paper a shot, but Rob Parker [[NOT a Detroiter) is not my favorite sports writer [[I may or may not be from Detroit, but I like the sports teams that are named after the City of Detroit, if that exists).
HORRIBLE HORRIBLE PAPER!
I had to go to three stores this morning before I found one that sold the new paper. When I got to work and opened the paper I found that it contained absolutely no news whatsoever. It was page after page of snippets about the various staff and reporters. No local news, no national news, no sports scores or stats. The comic strips were all regurgitated ones from February of this year.
I realize that this was their first issue but if they aren't going to have any news stories they should not be charging 50 cents for this rag. I will give them one more chance, I'll buy a copy in another day or two. But if I don't see any actual news, I'm done with the Detroit Daily Press.
As much as I hate to say it, even the Macomb Daily [[which absolutely sucks) is better than The Daily Press. I am now beginning to miss the News and Free Press.
No one except a few grouches on DetroitYES think that someone seeking higher education and living on a university campus is a permanent resident of the place they're going to school. Real Detroiters don't have this problem. Neither do my graduate school friends, who think Michigan is a backwater and plan to use this state [[and your tax dollars) for its fancy terminal degrees, and then hightail it "back to civilization"... a common phrase up here
Good we don't want those assholes here anyway
Yeah, I bought one. It's thin. You'd think they would've wanted to start off with a bang to attract readers and advertisers. The look and photos were undistinguished--wouldn't have cost them too much to hire hip, hungry young designers and photogs. Only plus: avowedly moderate editorial stance that aims to dial down left-right rhetoric and present a variety of views. Hope they're ramping up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by texorama
I didn't even see any editorials in there at all. Just a bunch of short articles about the various staffers. I'm hoping for better content tomorrow or I am done with this "newspaper".
Even the Metro Times has more news content than what I saw in the Daily Press today. And I can't stand the Metro Times. I wouldn't line a birdcage with it.
Any paper that hires Rob Parker to be in it as a serious journalist scares me. I'm sorry but he's got a long winded history of just reporting rumors upon rumors upon rumors. When it comes to sports journalism- don't become the gossip monger and don't just become the voice for the poor disenfranchised African American athlete either. Those bits get tired and stale.
I'll see if I can scare up a copy of it just to see it but admittedly just looking at the masthead and front page, it's about as drab as can be. I'm not saying it needs to be the Weekly World News splashy or US magazine tabloid trashy in order to get attention, but like some others have said here- for a debut issue, you'd think they'd want something a little punchier to shop around to other advertisers and get prospective readers' attention?
Well, I tried to find a copy of the Detroit Daily Press this morning. I went to the store where I purchased yesterday's copy, at 9:00 this morning, and all they had were leftover copies of yesterday's paper. I went to another store and it was the same thing.
What a poor excuse for a newspaper. I wanted to write to them yesterday but there was no masthead [[which all other newspapers have) from which I could get a phone number or address let alone an email address.
This piss poor excuse for a newspaper will not last long if they don't make drastic changes right away. As I mentioned in an earlier post there was not a single article of local or national news, sports scores, weather forecast, lottery numbers, anything worthwhile at all in yesterday's paper. It was truly a waste of 50 cents. I wanted to give them one more chance today but after two stops at 9:00 this morning I could not find a copy.
At Which papers did all you experts work? The 1st day of publication ,I admire you all for being so open minded and willing to give this thing a chance.
Which stores can we pick this up at? Is there a web site with a listing of locations or a web site of the paper in general?
@DC48080: It sounds like you picked up their test edition, if its the issue with all the staff bios. The new one has Lions stuff on the front page.
It sounds like CVS and 7-Eleven are the main places to get it, but those stores are having internal bar code difficulties with it.
I reviewed the first edition here: http://www.crainsdetroit.com/shea
It's certainly not on par with the Free/News or Metro Times/Real Detroit, but I won't write an obit after one issue. They started this thing fast, maybe too fast, but I think it'll be more fair to pass judgment a bit more down the road. They've got a chance because of the weird situation with the metro papers in town, but they have to be scrappy, credible and nail some scoops to make a name.
How can journalistic competition be a bad thing?
I bought a copy at the newstand in the lobby of my building today. Read a George Cantor column for the first time in years. I hope they can pull it off, though it is a huge risk. Not much to the paper currently, but it takes a while to get established, and get some advertising revenue. I do like the fact that it costs half as much as the other papers, but you don't get much at either the $1 or fifty-cent cost.
No on line edition? I probably can't get home delivery out here in the sticks......
At 16 pages, what does it compare to, a strike paper?
Thanks Bshea, I probably did indeed picked up a test edition. I'm curious as to why they would sell a test edition with absolutely no news articles whatsoever at full price and not at the very least put something promenantly on the front page to identify it as such.Quote:
Originally Posted by BShea
In any event, I was unable to find anything but the same garbage "test edition" that I purchased yesterday at either of two stores I visited this morning. I will try again tomorrow but I'm not sure if I will attempt to buy the paper beyond that if I cannot easily find a copy.
I know they were distributing those editions recently, but I didn't think they were sale. Maybe some places are selling them -- I have no idea.
Here's a website but I don't think it's what you want: http://www.detdailypress.com/. There's not much of anything there.Quote:
Originally Posted by douglasm
I vaguely recall reading somewhere that they didn't plan for an on line edition at least at first because they were mainly targeting the vacuum left in the hardcopy market.
Leo's at Telegraph & Maple had a stack of copies in their in-house newspaper bin today [[Nov 24).
CVS stores have had them consistently.
This morning I stopped at one gas station, one 7-11 store, and two CVS stores. The only thing I could find was a copy on Monday's Det Daily Press at the gas station. I asked the clerk at one of the CVSs and she said she had never heard of the Daily Press.
This is getting discouraging. I want to give this paper a chance but if I cannot easliy buy a copy what am I supposed to do? It is not as though I live out in the sticks or something. Nobody should have to visit 4 stores and not be able to find a copy.
People, this paper has been in operation for less than a week. Give them an opportunity to figure things out before just writing them off and badmouthing them. This is a cool thing that they're doing and let's face it, it's a longshot. They've got a lot of things working against them trying to make this a success, but I don't think that naysayers writing them off after less than a week should be on the list. Give them a break.
I've bought each day, and haven't had trouble finding them [[CVS one day, gas stations the other two). The first two copies weren't very strong -- lots of regional type stuff that didn't interest me. But today's edition was much different, with stories from Oakland and Macomb counties filling the paper. Like nothing about Detroit, or even Wayne County. Strange, but interesting.
I don't know if that was a one day thing, or they plan to be a paper for the suburbs than anything Detroit. Not many ads in the paper though. They must have some major capital behind it to sustain virtually no revenue for any period of time.
It's at least temporarily dead. From Facebook:
< <
Detroit Daily Press Due to circimstances beyond our control, lack of advertising, lateness of our press runs and lack of distribution and sales, we find it necessary to temporarily suspend publication of the Detroit Daily Press until after the 1st of the year. Once we can fix these things, we plan to be back stronger and more organized wh...en we return. This is just a bump in the road and not the end of the Detroit Daily Press.
> >
Just talked to a good friend who worked for the paper.
My friend doubts paper will come back and has "folded for good."
"I don't know if anyone even subscribed. the phones never did work. the computers, a joke. they didn't have software licenses. etc."
Employees haven't been paid yet.
Word on the street [[from a different friend): Paper launched now to try to tap holiday ad revenue, but they didn't realize firms' ad budgets were already in for the season. Without that cash, the company didn't have the revenue to stay afloat.
My take on it on CrainsDetroit this afternoon.
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...FREE/911279996
They say they'll be back in January. Speculation that they rushed to try to get holiday dollars make sense. I'm waiting to hear back from 'em.
Hope they can pull it off. Having a third Detroit paper is fun.
Sorry for all the folks that are affected by this right before the holidays.
From the Freep, Detroit Daily Press suspends publication:
http://www.freep.com/article/2009112...ds-publication
The very latest from the owner of the Detroit Daily Press and what's going on/happened with it:
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/shea
The examiner.com article he links makes some fairly serious allegations against the existing papers and their unions. That's a highly political source that has been unreliable in the past, and I'm not sure how much stock to put in it. Comments?
http://www.examiner.com/x-1800-Detro...ess-suspension
Wow, that's harsh. I don't know what to think of the Examiner piece, except I suspect it's exaggerated a bit.
Sorry but i'm not buying that story from the examiner... I really don't think that the News and Freep took a newspaper that thinks "Detroit'll" is a word [[yes, that's right. this "newspaper" ran a headline containing the "word" Detroit'll) seriously enough to bother blackmailing CVS into not carrying it?