Newsweek responds to GR lip dub

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A magazine that had an article calling Grand Rapids a "top 10 dying city" is now responding to the city's response of a lip dub.

Newsweek posted "America's Dying Cities" on its website in January based upon the drop in under-18 population among cities already losing population between 2000 and 2009. Grand Rapids was ranked No. 10.

Rob Bliss produced on May 22 a lib dub -- one continuous video shot to the music of Don McLean's "American Pie" -- on the streets of Grand Rapids. The purpose of the video, Bliss said, is to showcase the city and prove it is not "dying." 

Newsweek posted Thursday on its Facebook page this statement regarding the video --

To the Grand Rapids crowd:

First off, we LOVE your YouTube LipDub. We're big fans, and are inspired by your love of the city you call home. But so you know what was up with the list you're responding to, we want you to know it was done by a website called mainstreet.com -- not by Newsweek (it was unfortunately picked up on the Newsweek web site as part of a content sharing deal) -- and it uses a methodology that our current editorial team doesn't endorse and wouldn't have employed. It certainly doesn't reflect our view of Grand Rapids.

Watch the lip dub below --