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BridgeDetroit took home two awards in a nationwide competition recognizing impactful journalism while also winning seven awards in a Michigan-focused contest.
On Thursday, for the second year in a row, reporter Jena Brooker was honored by the Michigan Press Association with the Public Service Award for her coverage of Detroit concrete crushing operations. Last year, she won the award with her piece “Detroit’s cost for automotive growth: Generational displacement.”
In addition to covering environmental justice issues, Jena also has a food newsletter, “JB’s Bites.”
The award recognizes a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or newspaper individual that has made a significant contribution to the betterment of their community, according to the organization.
The MPA’s “Better Newspaper Contest” is a statewide organization that honors the best in quality journalism. The contest recognizes work published between Aug. 1 2023, through July 31, 2024.
Other awards include:
- 1st Place: Government/Education News
Malachi Barrett for “False arrest of Detroit mother reignites criticism of facial recognition tech”
- 1st Place: Business/Agriculture News
Jena Brooker for “Can Detroiters afford more dollar stores?”
- 2nd Place: Feature story
Nushrat Rahman for “From shelter to home — how one woman climbed out of homelessness”
- 3rd Place: Feature story
Quinn Banks and Malachi Barrett for “Guardians of graffiti: Inside an effort to protect Detroit’s vanishing art”
- 2nd Place: Best Opinion
BridgeDetroit freelancer A.J. Johnson for “Train station rebirth proof ‘Detroit never left’”
- 3rd Place: Public Service Award
BridgeDetroit’s staff for “Voter Guide: Everything you need to know about participating in elections”
Our sister publication Bridge Michigan had a big night, winning 15 awards, including eight first-place awards in the statewide news media division.
Business reporter Paula Gardner won the statewide Public Service Award for her extensive reporting on “The unfulfilled promises of Michigan business incentives.”
Enterprise reporter Ron French also won a statewide award for best writing for his story “Michigan tribes race to save their language from extinction.”
Read more on Bridge Michigan’s wins.
National Headliner Awards
Last month, BridgeDetroit was recognized by the National Headliner Awards. Reporter Malachi Barrett’s “City Council Notebook” took second place for Best Digital Newsletter; the staff also placed second for Best Digital Independent Community/Local News Site.
Every week, Malachi attends the Detroit City Council meetings and combs through hours of information to create a concise but comprehensive report of all the items council members are considering. If you haven’t already subscribed for updates, click here.
Founded in 1934 by the Press Club of Atlantic City, the National Headliner Awards program is one of the oldest and largest annual contests recognizing journalistic excellence.