Monthly Archives: April 2009

Judge ignores JOTR, but Convertino hears

By Joel Thurtell I was disappointed when U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland ignored my advice that he appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the behavior of federal attorneys and maybe even the Detroit Free Press in producing a January 2004 … Continue reading

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Spin, spin, spin

By Joel Thurtell The more you repeat a lie, the more it overwhelms the truth. They know that maxim well at the Detroit Free Press. It took four writers, two of them Puliltzer laureates, to put that old rule to … Continue reading

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Metro Times: JOTR “best independent blogger”

Staff here at joelontheroad were delighted to learn that Metro Times staffers have bestowed kudos on this blog: BEST EXAMPLE OF AN INDEPENDENT BLOGGER RAISING HELL Joel Thurtell Joelontheroad.com The former daily newspaper guy has kept his hand in the game … Continue reading

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JOTR statement to Coast Guard

Here is the statement I e-mailed on April 21, 2009 to the U.S. Coast Guard regarding my encounter last fall with an Ambassador Bridge secuity guard: Joel Thurtell – Public Comment to the USCG April 21, 2009 Hala Elgaaly, P.E. … Continue reading

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Up the Rouge! “unflinchingly honest”

Hope I won’t be accused of being a “doc-drop.” But I thought readers of JOTR might be interested in reading what Midwest Book Review thinks of the book I co-authored with Patricia Beck. It’s called Up the Rouge! Paddling Detroit’s Hidden … Continue reading

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Newspaper or TV station?

This just in from Detroit Free Press editors: Folks, Please join us in welcoming Mike Brookbank to the Free Press. Mike will anchor our Free Press news segments on First Forecast Mornings on WWJ-TV from 5 to 7 a.m. weekdays. … Continue reading

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Up the Rouge! at Allen Park Barnes & Noble

Next Up the Rouge! event: Monday, April 20, 7 p.m. Barnes & Noble, Fairlane Green, 3120 Fairlane Drive, Allen Park. Co-authors Patricia Beck and Joel Thurtell will talk about their new book, Up the Rouge! Paddling Detroit’s Hidden River. The book … Continue reading

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Fixing Free Press A-C bias

By Joel Thurtell Normally, I’m not in favor of outsourcing, especially when it involves covering local news stories. How could reporters in, say, Bangalore, India have enough background, culturally and politically, to report accurately and concisely on an American news … Continue reading

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The monopoly implodes

By Joel Thurtell On the heels of what looks like a colossal screw-up in downsizing its once daily newspapers to a pair of failies, Gannett is dropping another shoe on Detroit. According to the Oakland Press, Gannett plans to close … Continue reading

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Public interest or bunk?

By Joel Thurtell Odd bit of irony in the Sunday, April 12, 2009 Detroit Free Press article. The latest sport is skewering Detroit 36th District Judge Ruth Carter for caustic comments she made in text messages she sent on a … Continue reading

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