Dear SPJ Detroit members and Detroit journalists,
With deep regret, your SPJ-Detroit board is canceling the Excellence in Journalism Awards banquet, which was scheduled for May 7, 2020.
Our cancellation is due to the serious concerns over the coronavirus and COVID-19.
We are exploring options to reschedule the event in Fall 2020. In the meantime, we will announce the finalists and our scholarship winners in mid April.
Our Lifetime Achievement in Journalism awardees have been selected and we will be providing a more detailed announcement as we monitor the rescheduling of our banquet. We are thrilled to tell you our board has voted to honor David Ashenfelter, Mary Kramer and Vicki Thomas for these prestigious awards.
David Ashenfelter – Communications spokesperson -Detroit Federal Court.
Ashenfelter is a former reporter of the Detroit Free Press, The Detroit News, contributing reporter for Bridge Magazine, Deadline Detroit, Gongwer News Service and Reuters. He and a team of Detroit Free Press reporters were awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2009.
Mary Kramer – Vice President & Group Publisher – Crain Communications, Inc.
Kramer is considered a seasoned expert with more than 25 years of reporting and management experience. She was inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame in 2017. Kramer is active in many Detroit-area business and civic organizations and the main organizer of “Detroit’s Homecoming”.
Vickie Thomas – City and Beat reporter for WWJ- Newsradio.
Thomas has spent decades covering breaking news in metropolitan Detroit. She is credited for spearheading the highly successful NABJ National Convention in Detroit and continues her leadership roles with the organization locally. In 2019, Thomas was inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame.
Please stay tuned to our website for updates on our awards program. For now, we wish everyone safety and good health. To all journalists covering the coronavirus, we thank you for your dedication and hard work.
All the best,
Beth Konrad – SPJ- Detroit Pro Chapter President