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Michigan Columnist Canned After Column Rips American Automakers
Editor and Publisher ^ | 08/10/05 | Joe Strupp

Posted on 08/10/2005 10:24:35 AM PDT by Pikamax

Michigan Columnist Canned After Column Rips American Automakers

By Joe Strupp

Published: August 10, 2005 12:15 PM ET

NEW YORK A Michigan newspaper columnist who was fired Tuesday claims his dismissal was punishment for a column he wrote on Saturday criticizing American cars.

James Briggs, a former columnist and news editor at The Daily Telegram of Adrian, Mich., says the publisher canned him for writing the column that upset auto dealers and others so close to Detroit's auto manufacturing power houses. The publisher told E&P that auto advertisers did complain, but says there's more to it than that.

"I was in a meeting with my boss [editor Mark Lenz] and the publisher came in and berated me for half an hour," Brigg said, describing the Tuesday morning meeting at the afternoon paper. "He said I needed to understand the consequences of what I wrote."

What he wrote was a column in Saturday's paper that described his decision to switch from driving an American car to a foreign model. "Maybe I'm hitting a late rebellious streak. Maybe I'm simply unpatriotic, ungrateful or un-American," the column said, in part. "Or maybe the domestic automakers have slipped so far down that purchasing an American vehicle has become moronic. I'll go with that answer."

Briggs, 24, said he received no feedback from the newspaper until Tuesday morning when Publisher Paul Heidbreder approached him during his meeting with Lenz. "He said it was insensitive for me to write such a column given our proximity to the Big Three [automakers]," Briggs said. "He tried to get me to at least apologize and I was not going to apologize because I believe what I wrote."

Lenz, who did not respond to a request for comment, reviewed the column prior to publication, Briggs said. The column is still up on the paper's Web site as of Wednesday afternoon.

The former columnist said he was summoned to another meeting with the publisher later that day where he was dismissed. He said Heidbreder claimed the paper had lost upwards of $100,000 in auto ads because of the column.

The publisher told E&P today the termination was not based solely on the column. He also said no advertising had been lost so far, although some auto dealers had threatened to pull ads.

"The auto dealers threat was not what led to his termination," said Heidbreder, who has been publisher since early June. "His account of the events is inaccurate. But I am not going to comment further on personnel matters." The publisher also contends that when he fired Briggs, he offered to give him an explanation, but the columnist said he did not need one.

As the column states, Briggs said he wanted to write the piece to show his disgust with American cars after owning at least three General Motors vehicles, starting with a Chevy pick-up he bought from his grandfather, a former GM employee.

"I thought it would be an interesting column because we are so close to Detroit," Briggs said today. "I am also sick of people around here making other people feel bad for purchasing a foreign vehicle. I don't agree with it."

The Daily Telegraph is owned by Liberty Group Publishing of Northbrook, Ill., and has a daily circulation of 15,374.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Michigan
KEYWORDS: fired
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To: Smittie

By the time I was 24, I'd owned seventeen cars. And I was by no means rich, nor had I crashed them, and none of them were actually *new*. Buy low, sell high.


21 posted on 08/10/2005 11:18:55 AM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Alexander Rubin
What I was refering to is that the great majority of my fellow workers hold morally conserative values, such as being anti-abortion, anti-tax, pro-military, church going indivduals. I have not run across one member that doesn't support our troops and appreciates what they are accomplishing.

That being said, it's the international (upper officers) who are the weenies.

22 posted on 08/10/2005 11:19:00 AM PDT by greydog
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To: Smittie

As an example of boneheaded domestic design, pray explain why the steering wheel of *every* current generation GM full-sized truck has the steering wheel offset to the passenger side by 1-2".

As another example of boneheaded domestic design, please explain why GM has the CSK problem with their truck engines, and why Ford decided to make the 4.6L 2V manifold out of the particular kind of plastic that they did. You know, the one that eventually (5 years, <90,000 miles, whichever comes first) cracks and sprays coolant everywhere?


23 posted on 08/10/2005 11:23:13 AM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: All

I live in Alberta, Canada and as you probably know we have some extreme weather up here. As I see it the US automobile makers are very good at making heavy duty trucks and but the design of cars seems to have got lost with them.

The last US car I bought new was a Ford Escort..this car had 18 major faults in it before I even drove it off the lot. The windscreen wiper blew off as I was driving it home. It had been damaged and poorly resprayed..and the rear shocks had to be replaced after 10,000kls. I possibly bought a lemon..but there have been many such incidents around here.

So the family turned to Honda and Mazda after that..we drive an Accord 6 and a Mazda 3 both cars are top drawer. I don't care where they are built as long as they do what they are supposed to...

I recently read a lurid description of the state of Detroit..in a few words it said "don't go and live there"..is it that bad?


24 posted on 08/10/2005 11:50:23 AM PDT by Brit
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To: KarlInOhio

Disagree there. It doesn't matter where the overhead is spent (where it's built) nearly as much as where the profits go. The ideal is an American made product where the profits stay in America. Barring that, better to buy a car made elsewhere where the profits come back to America, than a car manufactured here in the U.S. where the profits go to Japan or Korea.


25 posted on 08/10/2005 11:54:29 AM PDT by Melas (The dumber the troll, the longer the thread)
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To: KarlInOhio

Disagree there. It doesn't matter where the overhead is spent (where it's built) nearly as much as where the profits go. The ideal is an American made product where the profits stay in America. Barring that, better to buy a car made elsewhere where the profits come back to America, than a car manufactured here in the U.S. where the profits go to Japan or Korea.


26 posted on 08/10/2005 11:54:31 AM PDT by Melas (The dumber the troll, the longer the thread)
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Comment #27 Removed by Moderator

Comment #28 Removed by Moderator

To: Pikamax
Heidbreder claimed the paper had lost upwards of $100,000 in auto ads because of the column.

That is the sum total of the whole matter. If you slam your advertisers in your paper, you'll be out of business quickly. Like it or not, a paper is still a business.

29 posted on 08/10/2005 12:01:49 PM PDT by TChris ("You tweachewous miscweant!" - Elmer Fudd)
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Comment #30 Removed by Moderator

To: Pikamax

I traded my last Big-3 auto for a Toyota and have no plans to go back to GM, Ford or Chrysler. The quality is lousy and the price isn't that good either.


31 posted on 08/10/2005 12:08:36 PM PDT by Poser (Willing to fight for oil)
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To: Brit

You know those "after the apocalypse" films where people fight their way through a ruined and burned out city?

That's central Detroit.


32 posted on 08/10/2005 12:26:51 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Spktyr

You are correct. It is a scarey place even in the daytime.


33 posted on 08/10/2005 1:40:41 PM PDT by TexasRepublic (BALLISTIC CATHARSIS: perforating uncooperative objects with chunks of lead)
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To: Of Salt
"So your saying that the content of opinion editorials should be dictated by management rather than the OPED writer? What's the point of having editorials at all?"

In a way, yes. Frankly, I believe most managers will only employ opinion writers that don't stray too far off the reservation. They will allow them to disagree with the premises, but not the conclusion.

I didn't say the firing of Briggs was fair, but I do believe his employer has a right to fire him. As you might be able to tell, I don't hold major media organizations to a very high standard.

34 posted on 08/10/2005 1:47:55 PM PDT by Niteranger68 ("Spare the rod, spoil the liberal.")
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To: Spktyr
You know those "after the apocalypse" films where people fight their way through a ruined and burned out city?

That's central Detroit.

That is a bit of an exaggeration, but as an almost lifetime resident of the Detroit area, I have to say there are some very rough parts of town. What's even more rough is the corrupt unions and government in Detroit. That said, it's hard for some here to boycott an industry that is most people (in this area) bread and butter. Most of the people I know depend on the auto industry for business, either directly or indirectly -- and they aren't union people. As the saying goes, don't poop in your own nest. The reporter did just that.

35 posted on 08/10/2005 1:48:49 PM PDT by PilloryHillary (Eva Peron + Chappaqua = Hillary Clinton)
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To: PilloryHillary

I wouldn't go back to Detroit without a platoon of mechanized infantry and a platoon of armor with air support to back them up.

They just need to level the place and start over. Anyone heard from Omni Consumer Products lately?


36 posted on 08/10/2005 2:42:33 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: PilloryHillary

A disturbing fact about Detroit: There are no major retail stores inside the city limits. No Walmart, no Target, no Sears, no K-Mart, no Mervyns, no JC Penneys. Nothing.

Detroit residents have to leave the city to shop.


37 posted on 08/10/2005 3:03:32 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Spktyr
Detroit residents have to leave the city to shop.

Not if they want to shop at say....Home Depot in Detroit

OR say Kmart in Detroit

19990 Telegraph Rd, Detroit, 48219 - (313) 537-8010

Or say they need groceries, they can shop at the Kroger in Detroit

14383 Gratiot Ave, Detroit, 48205

You are exaggerating and generalizing. I am the last person to defend Detroit, but there ARE some major chain stores inside the city limits. These are major chain stores, although there are only a few of them in the city limits. I could go on, but you get the idea.

38 posted on 08/10/2005 3:23:28 PM PDT by PilloryHillary (Eva Peron + Chappaqua = Hillary Clinton)
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To: PilloryHillary

Hm, there was a recent article on FR from the Detroit Free Press that mentioned that there weren't any.

-shrug- Oh well, Detroit can't get anything else right...


39 posted on 08/10/2005 3:26:41 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Spktyr
A disturbing fact about Detroit: There are no major retail stores inside the city limits. No Walmart, no Target, no Sears, no K-Mart, no Mervyns, no JC Penneys. Nothing.

OOOH...Lookie here....a Target in Detroit?????! 8500 E 8 Mile Rd, Detroit, 48234

Sears actually has a paint store in Detroit. Sure it gets lots of business.

Can't find a Mervyn's or JC Penney in Detroit. Darn.

40 posted on 08/10/2005 3:30:00 PM PDT by PilloryHillary (Eva Peron + Chappaqua = Hillary Clinton)
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