David Zeman
David Zeman, senior editor at Bridge Michigan, plans to retire Feb. 1 after working for the nonprofit, nonpartisan publication for 10 years.
Zeman, 64, a former investigative reporter and editor at the Detroit Free Press, led the Bridge Michigan newsroom "through a decade of remarkable growth and over 200 state and national awards," according to an article in Bridge Michigan.
The publication said the newsroom is now led by Joel Kurth, the executive editor for impact, and Lisa Yanick Litwiller, who starts Jan. 3 as executive editor for innovation and daily news.
Zeman joined the publication in 2013, two years after its launch.
“We've expanded beyond what I could have ever dreamed,” Zeman said, according to the Bridge Michigan article. “We just continued to grow, juxtaposed against the media landscape beyond Bridge, and that’s been very gratifying.”
Bridge Business Editor Paula Gardner was quoted in the story as saying:
“A compliment from David carries a lot of weight. I admit to an intimidation factor from working with David, due to his Pulitzer and career as an amazing writer and editor. I started (at Bridge) early in the pandemic, and as I watched him edit my stories, even during 12 hours or more shifts as he managed through COVID, I could see immediately how he found the holes in my reporting, the rough edges in my phrasing and the missing answers to questions like, ‘how is this appealing to a Bridge reader?’"
At the Free Press, he edited the stories in 2008 by Jim Schaefer and M.L. Elrick that exposed text messages showing Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had lied at the civil trial involving Detroit police officers.
