This year’s recipients along with the Excellence in Journalism contest winners will be honored at the chapter’s annual awards ceremony and banquet on May 20.

The Detroit Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is proud to announce the three journalism giants it has selected to receive its ultimate tribute, the SPJ Detroit Lifetime Achievement Award. This annual honor is bestowed on individuals whose pursuit of journalism excellence over the course of their careers has strengthened the profession and the community they serve.

The 2026 SPJ Lifetime Achievement Awards go to ….

Stephen Henderson

Stephen Henderson is an award-winning journalist, author, and broadcaster whose work is rooted in Detroit and shaped by a deep commitment to public-interest reporting and civic life. A native Detroiter, he is the founder of BridgeDetroit, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering the city through sustained engagement with residents and their primary concerns. Over nearly three decades, he has focused on the forces that shape cities and communities – urban policy, government accountability, education, race, and economic inequality – with an emphasis on how public decisions affect everyday lives. He is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary and has received more than two dozen national honors for his writing and editing, including recognition as Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists. Henderson is the co-author of The Civility Book (Wayne State University Press, 2025), a reflection on disagreement, democratic culture, and the importance of sustaining civic dialogue.

Bill McGraw

Bill McGraw has been a journalist in Detroit for more than 50 years. His career began at age 20, recording a weekly travel show for WABX-FM, which led to freelancing for the Free Press Sunday magazine. He joined the paper’s staff in 1977, serving as reporter, sportswriter, columnist, foreign correspondent and deputy metro editor over the next 32 years. He created two best-selling books about the city, the Detroit Almanac, edited with Peter Gavrilovich, and “The Quotations of Mayor Coleman A. Young.” He also co-founded Deadline Detroit, with Allan Lengel. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Toronto Globe and Mail, the South End, Fifth Estate, Orbit and Bridge Michigan. McGraw was a producer for “12th and Clairmount,” the award-winning Free Press documentary about the 1967 rebellion, and a consultant for “BURN,” the 2012 documentary on the Detroit Fire Department.

Alicia Nails

Alicia Nails is the director of Wayne State University’s Journalism Institute for Media Diversity, a professional honors program and official WSU Learning Community. She directed the Institute in producing major media events, including “The Salute to Emery King” and the “Salute to 25-Year Journalists.” She heads up Wayne Journalism’s annual Spirit of Diversity event, which has honored national figures in the profession for some 40 years. Nails is an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist with more than 40 years of experience in television, radio and print/electronic media. She has also executed citywide public relations campaigns for major special events and organizations, including the African World Festival and the Detroit Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She has served on the National Communications Committee of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the National Communications Committee of The Links, Incorporated.

The Lifetime Achievement Awards will not be the only honors handed out that evening. Hundreds of first-, second- and third-place award winners in the SPJ Detroit annual Excellence in Journalism competition, along with honorable mention awards, will be presented. These awards recognize Michigan’s best journalists and their work during 2025, as selected by a panel of veteran journalists from media organizations outside of Michigan.

In addition, SPJ Detroit will name the Journalist and Young Journalist of the Year, as well the recipients of its 2026 Larry Laurain scholarships, which are given annually to college students with an expressed interest in journalism.

All this will take place at SPJ Detroit’s annual Excellence in Journalism awards ceremony and banquet, on Wednesday, May 20, at the San Marino Club, 1685 E. Big Beaver Road in Troy, Michigan.

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