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The Detroit Journalism Cooperative is an integrated community media network providing insight on the issues facing Detroit. It features two radio stations, an online magazine, five ethnic newspapers, and a public television station-- All working together to tell the story of Detroit.The DJC includes Michigan Radio, Bridge Magazine, Detroit Public Television, WDET, and New Michigan Media. To see all the stories produced for the DJC, visit The Intersection website.Scroll below to see DJC stories from Michigan Radio and other selected stories from our partners.

Detroit: First year out of bankruptcy (a Detroit Journalism Cooperative documentary)

Lester Graham
/
Michigan Radio

A special report looking at the progress, struggles, and failures in Detroit during the city’s first year out of bankruptcy:

  • An investigative reporter fights city hall to acknowledge there are hundreds and hundreds of broken fire hydrants.
  • Many Detroit and Wayne county homeowners are losing their homes to tax foreclosure when they shouldn’t.
  • Unemployment in Detroit is consistently twice the state rate. Employers say too many Detroit residents are unskilled.
  • The working poor are one crisis away from poverty. Car trouble interrupts a promising career.
  • Bus service in Detroit is improving, but you still can’t count on public transportation connections to the suburbs.
  • Auto insurance in Detroit is twice as high as it is in the suburbs, but a plan for cheaper coverage would leave Detroit drivers still paying the highest rates in the state for the worst coverage in the state.
  • Detroit kids are not getting the education they need, and an expert says the state is doing too little to solve the problem.
  • Politicians and boosters talk about Detroit’s comeback, but many residents say they’re being left out.  
Lester Graham reports for The Environment Report. He has reported on public policy, politics, and issues regarding race and gender inequity. He was previously with The Environment Report at Michigan Public from 1998-2010.