Time Magazine's Year Long Study of Detroit Comes To An End

A team of journalists from Time magazine spent a year telling the story of Detroit from a house in Indian Village where they lived and set up an office.

The project is called "Assignment Detroit." The goal was to tell the story of Detroit's suffering by covering culture, economy and hardships.

Correspondent Stephen Gray arrived in August 2009 to tell the story of an American city that many in the country either bash or turn their heads from.

"We argue it  (the city) must shrink itself, in terms of its geography, its finance and its structure," Gray told FOX 2's Roop Raj by phone. "If it continues the path it is going...the city will fail."

Detroiter Darrell Dawsey was picked by Time to be the magazine's Web blogger during their stay.

Dawsey says the story of a city like Detroit can't be told in a year's time.

"I certainly would like to see something like that go on for a sustained basis," he told Raj. "But then, you know, we've got wonderful newspapers here, good media outlets. Detroit's a fantastic news town, so hopefully we won't have to rely on national media to tell our stories."

Gray is originally from New Orleans and focused his writing on the people of Detroit. He highlights Midtown as one of the bright spots in the city's recovery and redevelopment.

He made this observation about the people he met:

"Detroiters are extraordinarily defensive about some of the realities of life in the region and how that is perceived by the rest of the U.S. and the world. That manifested itself in a number of ways."

Gray said he will return to Detroit for follow-ups, and also to stay in touch with the friends he made during his stay.