As the newspaper industry goes through either an unprecedented transformation or an accelerating descent into irrelevance and bankruptcy it is doing anything it can to sell more papers. Enter the sensational, patronizing and exploitative stories about Michigan and Detroit that do a much better job of selling issues and subscriptions than do the sober assessments.

Consider the patronizing stories that often look at sports, music and theater events and marvel at the way people use entertainment and recreation even in times of recession. A handful of writers have written in recent weeks of the Detroit Red Wings and their pursuit of the Stanley Cup, framing fans’ interest in terms of the economic conditions of our state and region.

It is such a tired cliché that one would think seasoned journalists would know to avoid it. But even longtime Detroit writer Mitch Albom took a sip of the Kool-Aid in his much-ballyhooed “The Courage of Detroit” feature in Sports Illustrated in January. Albom makes some great points in defense of Detroit and the auto industry but begs the rest of the nation to feel bad for Lions fans, as if they have no choice but to keep buying tickets and believing in this pathetic team. That kind of blind faith isn’t something to respect; it is the same notion that drove auto executives to continue ordering gas-guzzlers by the thousands when consumers wanted fuel-efficient cars.

Then there are the photojournalists who come to Michigan to visit factories that have been shuttered for decades to take pictures that they will use as symbols for what our area is today. Nevermind that on the other side of town one old plant is being given a major renovation so it can produce tomorrow’s electric cars, or that at a business incubator in a former factory down the street researchers are designing the batteries to power those cars.

The vast majority of auto-related intellectual property resides in or derives from Southeast Michigan, and with the state’s commitment to supporting the situation, this will continue to be true as the auto industry evolves. One need look no further than the research and development operations of hundreds of American and international companies concentrated in this region to see proof.

So why are these reporters sneaking into the old Packard Plant to take pictures of broken windows and debris that has been mostly dormant for 50 years? You could have run that feature in either 2009 or 1989 and there would be little difference, and yet all over our state innovation and new ways of thinking are taking root.

Maybe these journalists have a grudge. Perhaps their K car died on the New York Interstate in 1985 and they haven’t yet gotten over that disappointing vacation weekend. Maybe their grandfather lost a thumb in a machine shop in the 1950s and it still irks them. But more likely they are following the marching orders of publishers that are under pressure to boost revenues.

“If it bleeds, it leads.” Regardless of their scope or size, tragedy and drama almost always trump good news. Regardless of whether it honestly represents where we are today, acres of abandoned manufacturing facilities make for a more dramatic picture than the innovation and creativity taking place in labs, offices and homes.

And that’s a shame, because if the media had any sense of responsibility and respect, they’d offer a hand up, highlighting achievements in the face of recession. They would not keep kicking us while we are down with outdated and clichéd tales of our decline.

Ryan Dinkgrave is a State News guest columnist and a public relations graduate student. Reach him at dinkgrave@gmail.com.