Detroit: Economic and social devastation as a travel hot spot

An interesting take from the Chicago Reader: ain't no ruins like Dee-troit ruins, 'cause Dee-troit ruins don't stop.

The piece actually namechecks "Beyond Thunderdome."

Yikes.

Non Sequitur Idiom of the Day: Mortgage "Cram Down" Edition

From NYT: "Carrots and sticks."

Non Sequitur of the Day: TARP-ish Tuneage Edition

"Despite all my rage /

I am still just a rat in a cage."

"Rashomon" Has Nothing to Do With Trying to Sack a Quarterback (An OT post)

A centuries-old saying is that "success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan." Except, apparently, when Monday-morning quarterbacking the demise of a much-loved Detroit radio station. So, in very Rashomon-like fashion, various players, current and former, have taken to dissecting the rise and fall of The Fan -- Detroit's first all-sports station, WDFN-AM -- in the midst of Obama's inaugural speech last Tuesday.

=> Former PD Gregg Henson, now out of the radio business but still aware of what the deal is, has long charted the station's up and downs here;

=> Nice guy former morning drive host Jamie Samuelsen weighs in here;

=> His former partner, Greg Brady, writes a great post -- definitely not in the "60 Second Blog" ethos -- here;

=> Now former-PD Rona Danzinger provides her witnessing of the carnage, and rebuts Brady, here;

Another axiom is that you should always follow the money. The loss of The Fan stemmed directly from Clear Channel's being sold, a deal that it was conceived during a bull market, and then ended up closing during the beginnings of the credit squeeze. You can chart the ever-increasing acrimony in what finally evolved into a shotgun wedding:

=> In November 2006, corporate owner Clear Channel agreed to sell to Mitt Romney's old place here and here; some of CC's past shenanigans, like gluttonous over-consolidation and the rusulting possible anti-trust violations, are mentioned in the second link:

=> Then, after all the governmental vetting, credit started to tighten about a year ago, causing one of the buyers to not have much to say in investors, resulting in apologists going into the "all is well" mode.

=> Finally, after an interminable 19-month due diligence process and lawsuits all around, the deal closed this past May, and a whole bunch of belt-tightening was on the horizon.

Now, everyone I ever met from The Fan ranged from at least cordial to downright awesome, a situation you rarely find at any broadcast outlet. Also, let us not forget that many other off-air people at Clear Channel, including friends, got the ziggy, too.

In the big picture, what Clear Channel has wrought has not been good for the industry beyond a handful of its higher-ups. Closer to home, the various takes range from entertaining to informative, and often both, and contain many of the avoidable mistakes and missed solutions which could've made the whole situation better. We forget, though, that while the soldiers on the front lines do the fighting and dying amidst the fog of war business, it stems from the directives from the generals above, playing their little game of Risk or Monopoly, but with real lives.

In the end, I think some essential truths are born out:

=> Terrestrial radio is an awesome business when you craft a product that reflects where it's broadcasting. Homoginizing stations across markets is ultimately a death wish.

=> It's apparent after the last few months, so it's no news flash, but the private sector will screw over everyone but themselves, if you let them.

=> The FCC should take begin to take a long, hard look at these licensees of the public airwaves, and if they aren't doing anything productive for a local market beyond providing syndicated national programming, those licenses should be in jeopardy, if not pulled.

As someone who adores radio and has had some ideas work in the industry, I have long held out hope that these corporate behemoths would ultimately have to divest the stations for any number of reasons, from anti-trust compliance to wanting the tax write-downs to, perhaps, ultimately suffocating from under their own weight. Then, after prices are re-set to a sane market level, local owners will once again be able to craft unique programming visions which are now being relegated to the wonderful, but limited, Internets.

Bottom line, this is yet another example of the path corporate America is now wrongly pursuing to see better days, what I call "downsizing to greatness."

Because, really, have you ever seen that happen?

And now, let us remember that Elvis Costello had this whole scenario sussed out more than 30 years ago:

Some Fairly Smart People Think Detroit Is Redeemable

The ass-kicking Anthony Bourdain filmed in Detroit this week for his series, "No Reservations." Though The D will be only one of three cities in an unfortunately-named, in a highly-cliched fashion, "Rust Belt" episode, any Detroit visibility on television other than the Lions, Kwame and animal control cannot hurt. Thanks for coming, Tony, but, really, we know you could've done a whole hour on us.

Second, while some people accuse Mitch Albom of sappiness for his non-fiction writing, that's never really bugged me. Me, I occasionally sense he phones in his column, but when you work for a place that lives to phone it in, how can that be avoidable? Yet, on a bigger stage this week, he writes bigger, approaching the heights he is capable of, with his piece this week in Sports Illustrated, "The Courage of Detroit." Even though some of our local sports positives are overlooked in order to make his Comeback Kid meme work, it puts a face on a problem region that is easily dismissed as a faceless, "just Detroit."

Seriously. If you want to judge our city like this dumbass, at least take the time to do some research and thinking. But then, really, why let the facts get in the way of an opinion, eh?

Soup Nazi Handling Corporate Plane Perks for TARP Recipients

"Detroit, no planes for you!"

"But, Masters of the Universe, planes for you!"

Masters of the Universe, my ass. More like "Sandbaggers of Wall Street."

If It's "Detroit's Last Winter," Can It Please Be Because of Global Warming?

Time offers a few very nice and thoughtful takes about the troubles 'round my home.

Check out the cover story, and the sidebar.

Remember, you can't spell "drama" without The D.

The Only Joint In this Operating Agreement is the One They're Smoking If They Think This is Going to Work

As someone who actually cared about getting the JOA approved in 1989 between the Free Press and News, and who is obsessive enough to notice that they've been breaking the law when joint publishing on holidays (instead of only on weekends), and had friends on both sides of the strike, and who was offended by Gannett basically thumbing its nose at the industry, the market and the law by buying out Knight Ridder, today's announcement that the Freep and the News are going to be home delivered only three days a week would've been a stake in my heart. . . if they hadn't already broken it into a million pieces.

Yes, the CSM is going online only, and Entertainment Weekly is reportedly thinking about it, but living in the first major metropolitan area without a daily newspaper delivery? Oy.

I'd say that they last person leaving Detroit should turn out the lights, but the bulb's been foreclosed on.

Fun with Etymology: Auto "Bailout" Edition

Cars:

"Cars":



"Cars":



Carr:


Kar's:



Car Show:


"My Mother the Car":



Car Czar:

20% of America's Fastest Dying Towns Are In Michigan

Woo-hoo! According to Forbes, props sympathies go out to Burton and Hamtown.

Who says Michigan is a total failure? At least some of our communities are succeeding at failing.

Non Sequitur of the Day: Congress as Capitalist Tools Edition

"God damn your confusion."

Detroiters Actually Not Blot on America, Film at 11

Dear America,

Just so you don't think that we Detroiters only sit around and figure out ways to build gas guzzlers and featherbed union members -- as if -- check out this recent roundtable of some local big thinkers talking about Detroit becoming, perhaps, a "city on a hill."

The video is good stuff, even though I can't embed it here.

As to acheiving the theme of the meeting, fingers crossed.

Your host for the event: Craig Fahle of WDET-FM's "Detroit Today."

Non Sequitur of the Day: The Retail End Is Nigh Edition

"The end of the consumer-based economy."

Oh, crap.

Non Sequitur of the Day: Puns On Holiday Retailing Media Cliches Edition

"*Sigh* Brrrrr Monday."

In and around The D, and then everywhere else.

Apparently, You Can Spell "Relocated" Without The D

After The Big Apple, The D ranks as the second least favorite U.S. city that people would relocate to.

Geez, we can't even come out on top when it comes to suckiness.

However, putting aside our perpetual tussle of whether the concept of "Detroit" includes anything north of 8 Mile Road, I find these results surprising.

Except for the deep-seated racial animus, city v. suburb bickering, Southeast Michigan v. the rest of the state bickering, shrinking tax base, horrible roads, cultural illiteracy, once-a-century economic implosion and the Lions, The D is a lil' slice o' heaven.

Looks Like Hank Paulson Better Join Adcraft

Hello? Congress?

While relaxing this holiday weekend from all your exhausting posturing to look all fiscally responsible hypocritical by stiffing America's auto manufacturing industry, thank you for sending your latest weekend overnight blank check to Citi.

It makes this sports fan's heart all warm knowing that the Mets' $400M new stadium licensing deal is intact, thanks to taxpayer handouts.

Perhaps you might want to evolve the name of Citi Field, just to be, you know, sensitive to the situation.

This deal's fiscal irresponsibility ranks right up there with my favorite Premiership team, Newcastle United, still bearing the sponsorship of the now-defunct, government-owned Northern Rock.

Oy.

Maybe Common Law Marraiges and Divorces Would Be Cheaper

Apparently some married couples are living lives of quiet desperation.

No, really?

Oh, it's because they can't afford a divorce.

Yeah, that too.

If people aren't getting divorces because they're too expensive, I must be doing something wrong very kind and economical.

Check out some background here and here.

Lions Avoid Blackout So Local Fans Can Enjoy Their Wipeout

Hard to believe that the NFL would not lift the local blackout of the Thanksgiving game for want of selling the last 1,000 tickets.

That's about the price of a couple of :30's. Cheap bastards.

But the tickets did get sold, so we get to watch the train wreck.

But should the NFL be nice to an abused Detroit-area fan base who are so much in shock in so many ways that they can't even tell anymore if they are being abused?

Why Does Sen. Richard Shelby Love Foreign Auto Workers and Hate American Auto Workers?

So, Sen. Shelby represents a state with a boatload of foreign automakers who were lured with government subsidies, but he now won't do the same for American carmakers?

Is it payback because not passing the bill will be payback to Midwestern blue states?

As the Big Detroit Three go whip up their viability plan report for Congress on what they'll do over their Christmas break if they get a check, I imagine they'd like to review the viability and change plans all those banks and insurance companies wrote up in order to get the American taxpayers to pony up about $300 billion (so far) for them. (A special shout-out to AIG, now at $150 billion.) And to see what givebacks their white collar employees would have to make.

Oh, wait. They didn't need a plan or employee givebacks.

While some Dems aren't innocent of pandering, this is yet another case of rampaging, race- and class-fueled hypocrisy quarterbacked by an old southern white guy from the GOP.

There is a special place in hell for Sen. Shelby, but as a Republican senator from red state Alabama, he'll be in something close to it January 21, 2009.

Non Sequitur of The Day: Rust Belt Karaoke Edition

"Detroit breakdown."

Details here.