Bridge staffers win 23 awards from Society of Professional Journalists
Bridge Magazine reporters and editors won 23 awards in the Society of Professional Journalists’ Detroit chapter’s 2018 Excellence in Journalism contest, including five first-place honors.
Bridge, a publication of the nonprofit The Center for Michigan, also swept categories for localization of a national news story and for consumer and watchdog reporting.
May 2018: Bridge Magazine earns third consecutive Michigan Newspaper of the Year
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Bridge’s first-place honors included a yearlong project that explored the political divides between Michiganders that were exposed in the 2016 presidential election, and a profile of the attorney who defended police officers accused of killing three black teens at the Algiers Motel in 1967.
Bridge competes in SPJ Detroit’s online division, for news websites.
Here are the Bridge winners:
Best localization of a national news story
First place: “Michigan Divided,” by Ron French, Nancy Derringer, Pat Shellenbarger and Jacob Wheeler
Second place: Chastity Pratt Dawsey and Nancy Derringer on Michigan’s medical marijuana industry.
Stories: “Reefer madness in Michigan. Marijuana shops face hazy future”
Third place: Chastity Pratt Dawsey for a project on the deportation of a young mother from Detroit.
Stories: “American dream, Mexican nightmare: A Michigan mom’s life after deportation”
“They grew up in the United States. They’re finding a better life abroad”
“Detroit deportee adjusts to Mexico’s poverty. ‘You can’t believe it’”
Blogging
Second place: Lindsay VanHulle
Columns: “How to keep a millennial at your company? It ain’t with a ping-pong table”
“Year-round Daylight Saving Time? Michigan beware”
Third place: Phil Power
Columns: “Lansing fiddles while Michigan’s public schools go to hell”
“Residents are giving up hope for a better Michigan”
“Michigan’s plan for the robot invasion”
Consumer/Watchdog Reporting
First place: “The American Dream is fading everywhere, but almost nowhere faster than Michigan,” by Ron French
Second place: “Dear teacher: We want to hire you. Here’s a huge pay cut. Sincerely, unions,” by Mike Wilkinson
Third place: “Ban-the-box policy to hire ex-inmates is gaining backers,” by Lindsay VanHulle
Digital Media Presentation
First place: “In Michigan, path to elite colleges flows through richer high schools,” by Mike Wilkinson
Second place: “Michigan’s segregated past — and present,” by Mike Wilkinson
Third place: “Why Michigan needs newcomers. Told in 5 data maps,” by Mike Wilkinson and Ron French
Feature story
First place: “He became famous defending ‘Algiers Motel’ cops. Deal with it,” by Joel Kurth
Honorable mention: “A crusading attorney helped free a man framed for murder. They both ended up dead,” by Ron French
General news
Second place: “Michigan failing its special needs children, parents and studies say,” by Chastity Pratt Dawsey
Third place: “100 workers recalled. Then they all flunked their drug tests,” by Chad Selweski
Honorable mention: Ron French and Ted Roelofs for a project on gerrymandering in Michigan.
Stories: “Gerrymandering in Michigan is among the nation’s worst, new test claims”
“An uphill fight to take redistricting out of politicians’ hands”
“Michigan gerrymandering petition on pace for ballot. Will state justices stop it?”
“California holds clues to how a redistricting commission could change Michigan”
Honorable mention: “Want a better SAT score in Michigan? Book your hotel now,” by Mike Wilkinson
Investigative Reporting
Second place: “Soaring pneumonia deaths in Genesee County likely linked to undiagnosed Legionnaires’, experts say,” by Chastity Pratt Dawsey
Third place: “Detroit demo blitz linked to rising lead levels in children,” by Joel Kurth and Mike Wilkinson
Honorable mention: “Who’s certified to run Michigan’s schools? Nobody knows,” by Chastity Pratt Dawsey
Spot or Breaking News
First place: “One envelope holds her fate. Is she getting deported today?” by Chastity Pratt Dawsey
Second place: “Amid protests over Trump, Muslims and guns, two enemies in Kalkaska bond near a giant trout,” by Ron French
In addition, Wilkinson shared second-place reporting honors with Chad Livengood of Crain’s Detroit Business in the Explanatory Story category in SPJ Detroit’s Print Class C division, for a joint project examining Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance system. The story: “How Michigan’s auto insurance premiums became the nation’s highest.”
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