Don't be lulled by the "Dear journalists" salutation atop Karen Dybis' open letter to visitors covering the auto show. The local author is more feisty than friendly.
Karen Dybis: "We aren’t 'gritty.' Good Lord, what does that even mean?" (Photo by John F. Martin)
Resist any impulse to tell readers or viewers you're "pleasantly surprised" by Detroit, she urges out-of-towners in a post at Detroit Unspun, the Detroit Regional News Hub's blog.
Stop using adjectives to describe Detroit such as “struggling,” “post-industrial” or “decaying.” . . . It's time to think more deeply. . . .
Stop with the drama. Trust me, there are people in New York, Boston, Atlanta and Chicago going through far worse than us.
Dybis urges fresh looks at the North American International Auto Show's home turf, not denial of its challenges:
We are in the middle of a lot of stuff, and most of it is messed up. We are kinda gloomy. It’s just that if I read those same tired, old statements again I think my head will explode. . . .
If one of you writes again how you’re “pleasantly surprised” that Detroit isn’t a pit or covered in debris or drowning in horror, I will lose it. . . .
So, as a fellow writer, I ask politely: Rework, rewrite and edit. Dig deep into your heart, squeeze out all your emotions and put them on the page. If you’re still in town, take a long walk through the city before you hit “send” or “post.”
At her Facebook page, the former Detroit News business reporter (2000-08) shares a that-felt-good emotion. "I feel better," she posts Friday morning.
-- Alan Stamm
