When George Cushingberry’s traffic stop controversy exploded late last week, a media colleague asked if I was planning a scathing takedown of the right honorable member Detroit city councilman.
Assuming events proved to be as bad as they seemed, I said I probably would at some point. But I wondered why my colleague needed me to stick it to Cushingberry? Some of this person’s coworkers are paid to offer analysis, opinion and commentary.
My colleague replied that other local pundits likely would be too gentle because they prefer the high-minded, diplomatic tone even when dealing with what appears to be a drunken oaf of a city councilman.
Detroit’s chattering class aren’t natural bomb-throwers. However, if Cushingberry really was driving drunk, received special treatment at the traffic stop, and slandered otherwise honest cops -- that’s all still to be determined -- but if it’s true, then it should compel all able-minded critics to hurl rhetorical ordnance in his direction.
It would be oddly appropriate, though, if that doesn’t happen. After all, no one in the local media, present company absolutely included, did their job when it came to Cushingberry during last year’s election.
The entire Detroit media apparatus, while never “in the tank” for Cushingberry, hardly seemed to notice this 40-year political veteran is an absolute mess of a human being until the fateful traffic stop.
That is to say, we didn’t pay attention until it was about three to six months too late to matter. This is a guy who won his council seat by less than 2,000 votes. Had anyone bothered to notice his serious financial problems or allegations of professional misconduct as a lawyer, maybe Detroit’s second district would have a different council person.
There is no individual to call out for blame, but collectively we all failed in our obligation to Detroit’s electorate.
For my part, I avoided writing about the council races as much as humanly possible last year. A close friend was running in the sixth district and, since it would be inappropriate to cover that race, I assumed, I should avoid the entire council election. Plenty of other people to pick up the slack, I supposed.
Unfortunately, it seems virtually every reporter and media outlet in Detroit must have had an equally valid explanation for not uncovering Cushingberry’s personal and professional woes before the election.
And, look, it’s true that big news (bankruptcy, mayoral elections, Kwame, Wayne County, education reform, downtown development, etc.) has been flying fast and furious around here lately. Newsrooms are shrinking. Hyperlocal elections decided by roughly 25,000 voters don't appeal to a broader audience. Things get missed, it happens.
All that may be true. However, all our seemingly legitimate, individual explanations add up to one big and unacceptable collective excuse. The disaster that appears to be George Cushingberry’s life was the ultimate low-hanging fruit of political scandals. We left it dangling on the tree when it mattered.
Had anyone bothered to simply properly profile council candidates in any meaningful way, Cushingberry’s skeletons likely would have tumbled from the closet. No one provided that basic due diligence. As a consequence, voters in Cushingberry’s district elected him by a narrow margin. He was the name they knew, a supposedly proven commodity.
I’m haunted by the Detroit media’s collective failure here. I’m ashamed to have allowed a friendship to justify not making an honest effort to cover 2013’s historic Council election. Detroit’s small town social coziness is an impediment to providing the whole truth to the public. That’s a fact that cannot be denied.
I’m also embarrassed to watch local punditry wag fingers at the council, and by extension Detroit voters, for electing Cushingberry and Brenda Jones to the largely ceremonial council leadership roles. Had we, as a profession, provided voters with the fullest possible picture of the council races, perhaps Detroiters would’ve been better able to elect the best possible City Council. We didn’t do that and for what it’s worth — roughly nothing — I’m sorry.
As for Cushingberry, he certainly seems like a loathsome individual. However, I can’t blame a hustler for being shady anymore than I can blame a cat for purring. The world is full of loathsome individuals looking to get over in one way or another.
That we in the media remain too complacent to keep the Geroge Cushingberrys of the world from rolling Detroit time and time again is the real tragedy here.
We’ve failed you, Detroit. Full stop.
