The Detroit Free Press's commitment to Michigan

Peter Bhatia, Detroit Free Press
·2 min read
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Welcome, everyone, to our fourth annual accounting of the Free Press' impact on our community, the metropolitan area and our state.

Our work never happens on a schedule nor does it go the way we think it might. We all expected a chaotic election season in 2022, yet it went without the kind of major issues and post-election cacophony that we experienced two years ago. I celebrate the amazing work of our political reporters through this year's campaigns — which had its own impact on helping Michiganders make voting decisions — and it is a significant that the election was without major incident or a repeat of the relentless volume of post-election nonsense (at least in Michigan).

Amish Virdi, 18, a freshman at the University of Michigan, works on a research project as he waits in the long line outside of the University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. Virdi was driven to the polls with particular interest in voting yes on proposition 3. "My conscience got to me today so I decided to come out to vote," Virdi said.

In many ways, the work this past year reflects our traditional commitment to watching out for those who our society tends to ignore.

We've done a series of important stories demonstrating the use of false testimony of snitches to obtain wrongful convictions. Anthony Kyles is out of prison today because of her reporting. (And we have more of this work coming.)

Shanae Kyles, 30, of Pontiac (red) and her sister Amera Alexander, 26, of Detroit (jean jacket) do selfies with University of Michigan student attorneys Elijah Ayala and Micayla Brugellis as they pose with Anthony Kyles, 54, who was released from the Carson City Correctional Facility Wednesday, Oct, 12, 2022. In 1997, a jury convicted Kyles of four counts of second-degree murder. The prosecution's theory was Kyles set the fire by throwing a Molotov cocktail at the house, killing three children and their father. Jurors heard that Kyles feuded with the children's mother over drugs, that he wanted to show he was in charge and that a witness saw him start the fire on the porch area. The witness has since recanted, saying he lied to the jury. Robert Trenkle, far left, who is a fire expert and investigator, concluded that the fire wasn't deemed arson.

There also were a series of investigations and stories that spoke up for children.

We revealed the abysmal state of Wayne County's juvenile hall and spurred calls for reform and moving of the kids to a less onerous location. We detailed the story of a child not being allowed to attend school, which sparked further investigation. "Trapped and Traumatized" detailed educators used seclusion and restraint practices a staggering 94,000 times over the past five school years in Michigan. Most of the students have disabilities. This work prompted calls for reform.

I have always believed that it is one of the fundamental responsibilities of journalism to be a watchdog on children's issues, to do all we can to create a better future for the next generations.

The staff of the Free Press remains an incredibly talented and hard-working group of journalists whose compassion for Detroit and Michigan is without peer. Regardless of topic, they bring a commitment that is powerful and impressive. They tell the truth every day. They reveal the issues that matter here.

Your readership is very important to us. Thank you for your ongoing support. If you haven't signed up for a digital subscription, please do so at freep.com/subscribe. It supports all we do.

Here's to a great 2023. Whatever happens, you can count on the Free Press.

Peter Bhatia

Editor and vice president, Detroit Free Press and freep.com

Regional editor, Michigan and Ohio, USA TODAY Network

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: The Detroit Free Press's commitment to Michigan