A few weeks ago, the luminaries of the film industry gathered amid fanfare and glitz to celebrate excellence and innovation in their field at the 95th Academy Awards presentation. Journalists may not be as glamorous and we certainly don’t get $126,000 swag bags for showing up, but we like to celebrate our best work just the same. Late last week the Michigan Press Association announced the winners of its annual Better Newspaper Contest and MLive’s journalists won more than 80 awards, including first-place wins in 24 categories across three newspaper classes (A = large, B = medium and Open = all classes combined). The award categories range from breaking news to features to public service, design to headlines to video. It truly captures the full range of work we and fellow journalists do day-in and day-out around Michigan. One winner I’m particularly proud of this year was an investigation by state team reporter Gus Burns into potentially dangerous marijuana that the state allowed to be sold to consumers. Burns used public document searches in his reporting, and that’s what made it the winner of the MPA’s Best Freedom of Information Act story in the Open class – which means all papers of all sizes. “This was marijuana that, at one point, had tested positive for potentially harmful molds and pathogens,” said Sara Scott, the editor who oversaw Burns’ reporting. “It occurred following the reversal of a state-issued recall. Acting on a tip, Gus filed a FOIA to obtain emails that showed the back-and-forth between the state and the store owners on this issue.” Another important project that was recognized by judges was MLive’s reporting on the perils of the annual Faster Horses musical festival near Jackson every summer. That original reporting, which showed a pattern of sexual assaults and deaths, won second place in the large-division Public Service category. One area where MLive consistently dominates in journalism competitions is photography; we have dedicated photographers across the state, and it shows in the results. MLive photographers swept all awards in five separate categories of the MPA contest – Best Photo in the Open class; and Photo Story and Feature Photos in the A and B paper classes – and collected 34 individual honors in all. “Our photojournalists have their fingers on the pulse of what's going on throughout the state, but especially in our own backyards where we live and where we call home,” said J. Scott Park, photo editor for MLive and himself a winner of four awards, including Best News Photo (Class B). “We work hard to provide compelling images that the community can relate to. I'm incredibly proud of the whole team as they continue to document Michigan's history every single day.” Increasingly, telling stories through images includes the video format and MLive is excelling there, too. MLive won first place in Video Presentation in Class A for “Michigan’s Bottle Bill: Sorting through a Sticky Situation,” which examined issues clouding whether the 45 years under a bottle bill have left us better off. Also, our videographers and photographers won 3rd place in Division A and swept all four places in Class B.
“Video is the way the majority of us experience information these days,” said Gillian Van Stratt, who as director of audience development oversees video strategy for MLive. “Having highly skilled, experienced videographers on staff all over the entire state gives us a fighting chance to deliver important journalism to the people.”
Awards are nice, and contests can seem more meaningful when one wins. That’s why trophies go on the shelf and honorable mention certificates go into a drawer. But the MPA honors are the kind of competition that no one really loses, because even in categories that we didn’t win the work that was chosen was the kind of journalism that makes a difference for Michigan citizens. That’s something we should all celebrate. You can see the entire list of winners here. ###
John Hiner is the vice president of content for MLive Media Group. If you have questions you’d like him to answer, or topics to explore, share your thoughts at editor@mlive.com. | 