Your Week In Metro Detroit: Free Press adds several new hires
I am always very grateful to you, our readers, for supporting the Free Press and our journalism. Your digital subscriptions are making a profound difference. The Free Press recently became tops in our company, Gannett, for digital subscriptions sold in a local market.
I am also grateful to Gannett, which is making big investments in Free Press journalism.
We have added significant staff in recent months, including welcoming back columnists Neal Rubin and M.L. Elrick. Rubin is a veteran journalist, having worked at both Detroit papers. His storytelling about people in Detroit and the region reveals the humanity of this place and does so with his characteristically gentle and engaging style.
Elrick, on the other hand, is not so gentle. His columns will call out those not living up the standards we as citizens should expect from elected officials and the powerful and will do so without pulling punches. Mike has worked at the Free Press multiple times, but he rightly says his most important job ever was selling beer at Tigers games.
We’ve added several other new staff of late:
Emily Lawler is our new state government and politics editor. It’s another big year in Michigan with the election, the Big Lie and the craziness of the campaign ahead of us. She is based in Lansing.
Arpan Lobo has joined the politics team and works with Emily. He is based in Grand Rapids. He was a key player in coverage of the men tried (and mostly acquitted) for allegedly plotting to kidnap Gov. Whitmer.
Leah Olajide is our new newsletter editor. Newsletters (like this one) are an increasingly important part of our offerings to you. They summarize the news and send you to interesting stories you might have missed. They are a perk of subscribing.
Tony Garcia is a new sports reporter specializing in trending news – what’s happening in sports now – and is a versatile writer who has already been thrust into everything from Lions, Tigers, Grand Prix racing and high school sports.
Sarabeth Manley and David Rodriguez are joining are photo/video staff next month. “SB,” as she is known, found herself in the news last spring when she took the now-famous photo of soon-to-be Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson during her confirmation hearing testifying while her daughter smiled at her. Rodriguez has done remarkable work detailing the realities of life in Salinas, California. He also is a reporter and has covered education for the paper there.
Andrea Sahouri is our most recent hire. She is returning to her home state next month to cover “policing after Floyd,” a new community-oriented beat examining how policing is or isn’t changing. She’ll also continue our coverage of the issues facing returning citizens. She works at the Des Moines Register (also a Gannett paper) covering social justice and immigration issues.
And there are more new hires to come.
Thank you,
Peter Bhatia
Editor and vice president, Detroit Free Press
Regional editor, Michigan and Ohio, USA TODAY Network
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Free Press adds several new hires
