Category Archives: Joel’s J School

Outsourcing the Yak

Posted on March 25, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell When the staffers who produced the long-running and beloved Yak feature retired last year from the Detroit Free Press, the bosses decided not to let the award-winning employees’ departure get them down. Why rely on workers with … Continue reading →

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Not just my opinion

Posted on March 13, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Over dinner, an old friend who’s a journalist quizzed me about the case of David Ashenfelter, the Detroit Free Press reporter ordered by a judge to reveal the U.S. Department of Justice sources for his story that … Continue reading →

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JOTR to judge: Tell Dave to stick it

Posted on March 4, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell All through the Kwame thing, we heard this drumbeat from the Detroit Free Press: This newspaper represents the public interest.  We need this or that record so we can better represent the public. We need judges to … Continue reading →

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Reporting on investigative reporting

Posted on February 25, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell I’m not sure what category to put this in — investigative reporter investigates investigative reporter? But I know powerful writing when I read it. Powerful writing propelled by hard-nosed detective work. That’s what Curt Guyette of MetroTimes … Continue reading →

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Holes in their story

Posted on February 24, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell I’m happy to see that finally the Detroit Free Press in its February 12, 2009 version of the David Ashenfelter and Richard Convertino saga has started referring to lawyers on the paper’s side as “Free Press attorneys” … Continue reading →

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Gloating mugs

Posted on February 12, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell That photo of reporter David Ashenfelter and attorney Herschel Fink in the February 11, 2009 online Detroit Free Press said it all. They look like they dodged a big fat bullet. Well, it was Dave who dodged … Continue reading →

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Off guard: Prosecution by newspaper

Posted on January 22, 2009 by admin

By Joel Thurtell Motives are important, even in the newspaper business. And in newspapers, business is a prime motive, though often unspoken. There’s that glass wall between business and editorial, right? Advertising people don’t talk to editors and vice versa. … Continue reading →

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Going Postal — My First FOIA

Posted on January 21, 2009 by admin

By Joel Thurtell Sixteen minutes past seven. In the evening. Mail’s still not here. Our neighbors are disgruntled at being on the tail end of this motorized postal route. By two minutes after eight, it had arrived. I think I … Continue reading →

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Burton’s ten

Posted on December 27, 2008 by admin

By Joel Thurtell There are ways of making a buck that can make you a loser. The Burton Historical Collections at the Detroit Public Library has devised a way to make a buck — actually ten bucks. But they’ve lost … Continue reading →

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News “threely” given

Posted on December 16, 2008 by admin

By Joel Thurtell What do you call a daily newspaper that prints itself three times a week? Thricely Free Press? Threely News? (Make that the Twoly News: Employees of the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press were told today that … Continue reading →

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