They tell us Detroit is dying, although it's not totally obvious. Any vibrancy, then, amounts to a Swan Song. So when you drive through the city, marveling at the exquisite architecture, the cultural richness, the wealth of history, there is a sadness.

Miles Moffeit (Ochberg Fellow, 2004) and I made this trip recently to welcome the winners of the 2005 Dart Award to the Dart Society. Detroit Free Press reporter Jeff Seidel and photographer Eric Seals received the award for their series, "Homicide in Detroit: Echoes of Violence," which chronicled the devastation wreaked by 364 homicides and a thousand more nonfatal shootings in the city in 2004.

After a lunchtime presentation to newsroom employees with Frank Ochberg, they showed us their Detroit.

Lots of American cities have stark border distinctions, but that between the upper-middle class Gross Pointe and Detroit's eastern edge still sort of stuns Jeff. "It goes from gray to green," he tells us from the helm of his family's minivan.

It's hard for me to tell. The houses all look the same—large, pretty brick two-stories with cute windows and porches. The peacefulness this afternoon belies no evidence of the viiolence that happens around here with the frequency of a war zone. Children sitting behind those cute widows take stray bullets if they don't get on the floor in time. People die on the porches. Halloween arsons have destroyed thousands of homes over the decades. People sitting on their porches are out of work. During the school year the presence of children on these streets means they're not in school.

Eric estimates the market value of their homes at $70,000. Two blocks east, the same houses, these a bit more manicured, sell for $300,000. Gentrification isn't likely, and not just because of the shootings: The neighborhood schools suck.

Both Eric and Jeff have reported from Iraq and are no strangers to on-the-job fear. But their experience of a similar sense of horror and danger in Detroit carries with it a profound sadness, because this is the city where they live.

The Super Bowl will be held here in January, and Jeff and Eric tell us of the cosmetic cover-up by the city's tourism council: The council took a picture of Detroit's skyline and Photoshopped-in lights in the city's abandoned buildings. They tell us their newspaper ran the tourism photo beside their own, untouched image. They shake their heads and laugh about this farce; it's better than getting irate about something they have no control over.

Good thing they have one another.

Jeff and Eric work together beautifully, complementing the other with their emotional, creative and intellectual processes. They also have an editor, Tina Croley, who shows the type of caring and compassion most reporters only dream about.

They are also able to articulate their experiences in ways that make their membership in the Dart Society a gift to everyone. This is the first year the society has reached out in this way to Dart Award winners, and we are extremely gratified by the association.

We are making arrangements for Eric and Jeff to meet society members at this year's Ochberg Fellowship in Toronto and to share their experiences.