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Detroit's "chief storyteller" has a new story to tell.
Aaron Foley, who left the news business in 2017 to lead a controversial, first-of-its-kind city government news website, has been awarded a yearlong sabbatical journalism fellowship at Stanford University in California.
"I’ll be researching what I do now with the City: The intersection between municipalities and journalism, and whether the two can co-exist," Foley said on Twitter Wednesday. "I’ll be looking to see if the model built here at the City can be taken further."
Aaron Foley: "I'll be looking to see if the model built here at the city can be taken further." (Photo: From CNN video)
That model is a "storytelling department," which produces content for a website called The Neighborhoods and the city's cable channel. The department was set up by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan in the midst of a re-election effort marked by criticism that he'd let the city's neighborhoods languish in his first term. It's funded by fees paid by Comcast subscribers in the city.
The Duggan administration says the website is designed to "give Detroiters and their neighborhoods a stronger voice" — a void Foley claims traditional media has failed to fill. Before joining the city, he was the editor-in-chief at BLAC Detroit magazine and a reporter at MLive. He also wrote a book, "How to Live in Detroit Without Being a Jackass," published in 2015.
The Knight Fellowships are sabbaticals for mid-career journalists looking to delve deeply into a particular topic or field of study. Fellows are paid a living stipend and can sit in on classes, seminars and other activities. According to its website, the Stanford program “supports diverse journalists from around the world who are deeply engaged in exploring solutions to journalism’s biggest problems,” with a “focus on accelerating change in the journalism industry.”
Detroit's story telling department won't be going anywhere. Foley says the city "is on the hunt" for someone to "continue" in his role.
