Bridge magazine, the two-year-old online journal that reports on statewide issues, has hired Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zeman to be the publication’s editor.
David Zeman
Zeman, 54, edited the Free Press stories in 2008 by Jim Schaefer and M.L. Elrick that exposed text messages showing Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had lied at the civil trial involving Detroit police officers.
Those stories and numerous others by the Free Press that year played a decisive role in Kilpatrick’s resignation and subsequent jailing for perjury, which foreshadowed Kilpatrick's conviction in federal court this year on racketeering charges that has sent him to prison for 28 years.
Zeman’s hiring is part of an expansion by Bridge, which is taking on additional staffers and opening an office in metro Detroit.
“Bridge has very high aspirations to serve as a go-to source in Michigan for in-depth, future-oriented journalism exploring the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of public issues,” said John Bebow, president and CEO of Bridge and its parent, the Center for Michigan, a self-described “think-and-do” tank based in Ann Arbor.
“David Zeman has a proven track record as one of the very best in this business. He is extremely well-suited to grow Bridge and we’re very fortunate to attract him.”
Bridge is published each Tuesday and Thursday at bridgemi.com by the Center for Michigan, which was founded by suburban newspaper publisher Phil Power in 2006.
Bridge, which is funded by Michigan foundations and corporate donations, specializes in in-depth reporting on education issues, the economy, tax and budget policy, the social safety net and the public sector.
Zeman, 54, most recently served as director of content and communications at the Education Trust-Midwest, an education policy think tank based in Royal Oak. Previously, he was the investigative projects editor and reporter at the Free Press, where he edited projects that won such honors as the George Polk Award, the Worth Bingham Prize and the National Headliner Public Service Award, in addition to the Pulitzer.
Before the Free Press, Zeman was a reporter at The Miami Herald and The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina. He holds a law degree from the University of Miami and has a master's in journalism from Columbia University.
