• Bridge Michigan and BridgeDetroit journalists won 33 journalism awards
• Education reporter Isabel Lohman earned a Young Journalist of the Year nomination
• BridgeDetroit founder Stephen Henderson received a Lifetime Achievement Award

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Journalists at Bridge Michigan and BridgeDetroit earned dozens of honors at this year’s Excellence in Journalism awards hosted Wednesday by the Detroit chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

They included a Lifetime Achievement Award for veteran journalist and founder of BridgeDetroit Stephen Henderson, a Young Journalist of the Year nomination for Bridge Michigan education reporter Isabel Lohman and 33 additional awards recognizing reporting, photography, video and audience engagement across Michigan.

BridgeDetroit environmental reporter Jena Brooker also earned second place for the Sojourner Truth Award for Reporting on Racial Justice.

The recognition highlighted the breadth of both newsrooms’ reporting, from investigations into education, health and environmental issues to breaking news and watchdog journalism.

Lohman’s nomination for Young Journalist of the Year underscored her growing impact covering statewide issues, while Henderson’s Lifetime Achievement Award recognized decades of contributions to journalism.

Bridge Michigan and BridgeDetroit journalists also won 33 other awards, including eight first-place awards in a handful of categories:

Arts/criticism reporting: 

• Fourth place, Micah Walker, Culture Canvas 

Breaking/spot news: 

• First place, Paula Gardner, “Lawmakers: Spending $660K per job for Sandisk would have been tough sell.”

• Second place,  Lauren Gibbons, Kelly House, Isabel Lohman and Ron French, “Trump changes hit Michigan.” 
• Third place, Eli Newman, “Walmart attack suspect a danger fell for years, fell through the cracks.” 

Community/local news:

• Third place, Ron French, “A stampede for child care in Traverse city reveals heartbreaking crisis.” 
• Fourth place, Kayleigh Lickliter, “Detroit police don’t prioritize auto thefts. Some victims are taking matters into their own hands.” 

Consumer/watchdog/investigative: 

• Third place, Simon Schuster, “Singapore owns 5% of the Upper Peninsula.” 

Collaborative coverage: 

• First place, Nushrat Rahman, BridgeDetroit and Detroit Free Press
• Third place, Bill Kubota of One Detroit and Jena Brooker of BridgeDetroit, “Voices for Manoomin.” 

Digital-media presentation: 

• Fourth place, Kelly House, “Michigan bucket list: Seaplane to Isle Royale.”

Education reporting: 

• Third place, Mike Wilkinson, Isabel Lohman, Kim Kozlowski and Justin Hinkley, “More free money for college, but where are the students?” 
• Fourth place, Isabel Lohman, Mike Wilkinson and Ron French, “Michigan’s education crisis.” 

Engagement driven coverage: 

• Second place, Bryce Huffman, Laurén Abdel-Razzaq, Malachi Barrett , Christine Ferretti, BridgeDetroit Meet the Candidates Series

Environmental reporting: 

• First place, Kelly House, “Iconic whitefish on verge of collapse as Great Lakes biodiversity crisis deepens.” 

Explanatory reporting: 

• Third place, Robin Erb, “Michigan Medicaid has ballooned. Cuts are likely.Here’s what to know.” 
• Fourth place, Mike Wilkinson and Ron French, ”Fact check: What’s true, false and misleading about Michigan’s education slide.” 

Feature reporting:

• Fourth place, Ron French, “Fentanyl came to a tiny UP town. Then the funerals began.” 

Food reporting/reviews: 

• First place, Jena Brooker, “Detroit’s Clique still the spot for hot cakes, hot takes.” 

Headline writing:

• First place, Jonathan Oosting, “AWWHELLNO: See which license plates are 2DAMFUN for Michigan.” 

Health reporting: 

• Fourth place, Robin Erb and Ron French, “ Aging in Michigan.” 

News videography: 

• First place, Eli Newman, “How we know if water is safe to swim,” 
• Third place, Janelle D. James, “Restocking Michigan waterways.” 

Open-government reporting: 

• Second place, Simon Schuster, “Who funds Michigan lawmakers? Most get cash from PACS, not voters they represent.” 
• Third place, Simon Schuster, “Michigan quickly deletes government chats, raising transparency concerns.” 

Podcasts:

• First place, Malachi Barrett, Bryce Huffman, Stephen Henderson and Khary Frazier, Detroit Next 

Social media strategy: 

• First place, Isabel Lohman, Asha Lewis,”Why aren’t Michigan kids going to school?” 
• Second place, Laura Herberg, “Michigan bucket list.”

Sports photography: 

• Third place, Josh Boland, “Au Sable River race start.”  

Sports reporting: 

• Third place, Laura Herberg, “Ice fishing as an Olympic sport? On a frozen Michigan lake, they dare to dream.” 

Sports videography:

• Second place, Laura Herberg, “Au Sable boat race.” 

Newsletter strategy: 

• Second place, Bill Emkow 
• Third place, Malachi Barrett, Detroit City Notebook

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