opinion

Meet the new editor: Refocusing ahead for the Free Press

I'll use the Sunday "A Better Michigan" section and freep.com to report to you from time to time on our work at the Free Press and to comment on journalism issues. I promise I won't take space away from Brian Dickerson or Nancy Kaffer, whose outstanding columns anchor the section on Sundays.

Quick introduction: I am 64 years old and have worked in the newspaper business since I graduated from Stanford in 1975. I have lived and worked in all four time zones, mostly in my native Northwest and the San Francisco Bay Area. My career has taken me to Texas (twice), Pennsylvania and Ohio. I was editor of The Cincinnati Enquirer before moving to Michigan. If you've seen the movie "The Post" (and I urge you to do so), you’ve seen the scenes of metal type being set by Linotypes. I worked in that system for the first month of my career.

I've had the great privilege of serving as editor of the Free Press for four months and am deeply impressed with this city and region. In my short time here, I have driven all over the city, Dearborn, the Pointes and Oakland County. Macomb County, Ann Arbor and Lansing are next. (Advice on places to visit appreciated.) I can't wait to get Up North in the spring.

I've been to two Red Wings games and two Pistons games. The Monet exhibit at the DIA is excellent. So is the penguin exhibit at the zoo. I've experienced the Polish Yacht Club, Eastern Market, and stood in the snow to get two bottles of Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout. I've spent hours driving through the city and amazing neighborhoods such as Boston-Edison and the vast expanses of empty blocks. And I am impressed by the passion Detroiters have for this place.

Everyone keeps telling me I moved to Detroit at the right time. And who could argue, given the city's "comeback," its ongoing issues and the region's never-ending flow of news? Everyone also asks me if I can handle winter here. No worries: I grew up in the cold, wet, snowy Palouse Country of eastern Washington state.

Many have asked what my priorities are. They are relatively simple: Make sure we continue to produce a steady stream of revelatory, original journalism that informs our audience about issues that matter here, and continue our transition to digital delivery of news and information.

There is a great deal of good journalism in Detroit and Michigan, but the tradition of the Free Press and the expectation of our audience is that we will lead. I am committed to that journalistic tradition, and to growing our already enormous digital audience, which will be more than 70 million page views this January alone.

In the weeks ahead, we will launch a refocusing of our news operation that emphasizes those two priorities. Our traditional focus on the auto industry, of course, will continue. But we will put more resources into coverage of the issues that define the city, region and state — documenting success and failure — and into holding our government, schools and universities, and even our sports teams accountable.

Expect more investigative work, more great storytelling and more reporting that brings contemporary issues into sharper focus. Immigration, the scourge of opioids, people finding success and being left behind in Detroit's comeback, entrepreneurs and innovators: These topics and more are in our plans.

It is no secret that newsrooms don't have the resources they once had. But the Free Press is blessed with an enormously able group of reporters, photographers, columnists, videographers and editors, and we will leverage their good works for maximum impact on freep.com and in the paper.

I have heard for many years from readers and critics of journalism that it is dying. Not true. Journalism has never been healthier, given the expansion of its availability by technology and creation of numerous new journalism models, especially nonprofits. And while print will not last forever, the appetite for the kind of truth-telling journalism produced by newsrooms like ours has never been keener.

While we are not immune to the partisan name-calling coming out of Washington, D.C., the fact remains that local media such as the Free Press remain dedicated to values of accuracy, fairness and completeness.

Yes, the technology has made the news more partisan, especially on cable TV, but journalists in the mainstream are still successfully bringing home reported, honest news.

Are there issues with the press today? I have been irritated at the national press for its focus on the president's tweets rather than on his policies. The stories circulating now — 10 months before the midterm elections — suggesting the GOP's majorities in Congress are imperiled are way premature, in my opinion.

I'm asked regularly if the First Amendment is in peril. I don't think so. Fair-minded Americans will determine our country's future. Some say I am kidding myself, but I think our Constitution will withstand the current assault.

But it isn't enough for those of us working in the press to just do our jobs well. We also need to take the time to listen more effectively to our audience and to produce news that is of value. You will hear more about that from me in the coming months.

Peter Bhatia is editor and vice president of the Free Press.You can reach him at pbhatia@freepress.com or at 313 222-6873. On Twitter: @peterbhatia