The Detroit story is too important to be left to the journalists (but we try anyway)

There's a story here in Detroit behind all the headlines of the newspapers. There is something going on that we here at Model D try to convey, while other news organizations focus on the more low hanging fruits. Time came in here with good intentions, we think, but have seemed to miss the ball a bit. With all that said, Detroit's story is too important to be left to us, or Time, or the newspapers. And an event on March 18 wants journalists and non-journalists alike to discuss what the story really is. The event is closed, but you can participate via live blogging and online discussions: http://ourdetroitstory.com/

Excerpt from the Huffington Post:

The past, present and future of the Detroit community--of any community--is too important and too complex a story to be left to Time magazine or to any single group. Especially now, when technology has given virtually everyone the ability to publish to large audiences, we have an obligation to use that ability to find and tell stories that advance our common understanding of the truth as well as our common welfare as community members, whether that community is Detroit or Chicago or America.

The object is not to exclude or minimize the role of professional journalists. To the contrary, I think we all want very much to activate communities to provide mainstream journalists with more and better sources of information and ways of finding important stories.

But I also believe the news does not belongs exclusively to any specialized group of information workers. As the media business continues to fragment under the enormous pressure of changing technology and culture, it is critical to focus on how to include as many voices as possible in telling the stories that matter most to us all as individuals, interest groups, neighborhoods, cities, states, nations and world citizens.

Read the entire article here.