From the Executive Director:
Here at BridgeDetroit, we strive every day to bring you useful information and impactful reporting that helps Detroiters to be informed and engaged citizens in civic life. It’s our mission to serve you where you want, how you want and with what matters to you.
Today, we’ve learned some news about us.
Last night, BridgeDetroit earned 9 awards at the annual “Better Newspaper Contest.” The MPA is a statewide organization that honors the best in quality journalism. The contest recognizes work published between Aug. 1 2022, through July 31, 2023.
Among the honors: Reporter Jena Brooker received the MPA Public Service Award for her story, “Detroit’s cost for automotive growth: Generational displacement.”
Jena spent months researching the generational displacement of families for the benefit of the automotive industry’s growth in Detroit. The story lifts up ongoing Stellantis facility emission violations, odors and litigation and, based on air sampling, how far reaching the state’s environmental regulatory agency believes the air pollution extends.
Reporter Malachi Barrett won first prize in the “Special Section” category for his City Council Notebook newsletter. Every week, Malachi attends the Detroit City Council meets and combs through mountains of information to create a more concise but still comprehensive report of all the items council members are considering. If you haven’t already subscribed for updates, click here.
BridgeDetroit also swept the “Government/Education News” category for local media.
- First Place: Micah Walker for “Recreational marijuana: A path to Black prosperity in Detroit”
- Second Place: Bryce Huffman for “BridgeDetroit Detroit families wait-listed for ‘maxed out’ after school program”
- Third Place: Micah Walker for “Detroit nonprofit leader asks: Where are the men in education?”
- Honorable Mention: Malachi Barrett for “When nature calls on Belle Isle, visitors struggle to find a bathroom”
For News Enterprise Reporting, Bridge Detroit took home two awards:
- Third Place: Nushrat Rahman for “Youth homelessness an ‘invisible crisis’ in plain sight, providers say”
- Honorable Mention: Olivia Lewis for “New Bargain Block season, same appraisal problems”
Our colleagues at Bridge Michigan also had a big night with 14 wins, and reporter Jonathan Oosting and data reporter Mike Wilkinson shared Journalist of the Year.
We are proud of our newsrooms, but even more, we are grateful to our readers for supporting us and allowing us to do award-winning journalism that makes a difference.
Thank you for reading,
Laurén Abdel-Razzaq
Executive Director, BridgeDetroit
