Members of Michigan Radio’s news team were in Cincinnati this week, on Wednesday, April 12, to accept the station’s first-ever Scripps Howard Award for the station’s on-going coverage of the Flint water crisis.
The Scripps Howard - Jack R. Howard Award for Radio Coverage honors the best in-depth and investigative reporting of a single event or issue that was broadcast or covered online by a radio station or radio network.
Of the station’s coverage of the Flint water crisis, which continues to uncover problems with the city’s tainted water, the judges wrote: “…a gripping, comprehensive account of local and state government malfeasance. Collectively, the station’s efforts are an inspiring work of public service that put necessary pressure on responsible authorities to do the right thing for a community with few resources of its own.”
Michigan Radio’s Flint water crisis team includes Reporter/Producer Lindsey Smith and Steve Carmody, Environment Report Host/Reporter Rebecca Williams, Digital Media Director Mark Brush and Senior Editor Sarah Hulett.
The Scripps Howard Foundation considered more than 860 submissions from across the country for the 2016 Scripps Howard Awards, which were established in 1953 to recognize outstanding print, broadcast and online journalism in 15 categories.
You can view video of the award presentation and Rebecca Williams' acceptance speech below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjwForS4VpY