Detroit PBS journalists won a dozen awards at the 2025 Society of Professional Journalists – Detroit Chapter annual banquet honoring excellence in journalism. Those included seven first-place awards across One Detroit, American Black Journal and Great Lakes Now for the coverage on education, the environment, health, community news and more.

Television

Education Reporting:

First Place: One Detroit – Will Glover for his artificial intelligence series, which included three stories:

Wayne State University’s AI for Mobility Project seeks to improve Detroit’s public transit system

University of Michigan becomes first college to create AI tools for campus, students

AI’s impact on the workforce: A conversation with the Workforce Intelligence Network

 

Feature Reporting:

First Place: One Detroit – Chris Jordan, Andrea Riley, Leland Stein and Nate Turner for Haunted Detroit Part 1: The Whitney and Haunted Detroit Part 2: The Orson Starr House.

 

Health Reporting:

First Place: One Detroit – Jonathan Shead and Jena Brooker (BridgeDetroit) for Detroit People’s Food Co-op opening broadens access to healthy foods in the city’s North End.

Second Place: American Black Journal – Daphne Hughes and Stephen Henderson for The Black Church provides support and sanctuary for youth facing mental health challenges.

 

News/Public Affairs (Regular Scheduled Program):

First Place: Great Lakes Now – Rob Green, Anna Sysling and Jordan Wingrove, Bill Allesee and Adam Fox-Long for “Great Lakes Now.”

Second Place: American Black Journal and Bridge Detroit – Daphne Hughes, Stephen Henderson, Micah Walker (BridgeDetroit) for The restoration of Malcolm X’s former home in Inkster, Michigan.

Third Place: One Detroit staff for “One Detroit.”

 

Community/Local News Reporting:

First Place: American Black Journal – Daphne Hughes, Daijah Moss, Dan Ketchum, Dean Underwood and Darin Donahue for Hundreds in attendance for 17th annual Silence the Violence march to end gun violence.

 

Environment Reporting:

First Place: Great Lakes Now – Kathy Johnson and Jordan Wingrove for Stocking The Mighty Great Lakes Muskie.

 

General News Reporting:

First Place: Great Lakes Now – Greg King, Adam Fox-Long and Jordan Wingrove, Jena Brooker (BridgeDetroit) for The Hidden Rivers Fueling Urban Flooding.

 

Digital

Environmental Reporting:

Second Place: One Detroit – Nicole Macdonald and Bill Kubota for How one Detroit neighborhood stopped heavy industry in its midst.

 

Collaborative Coverage:

Third place: New York & Michigan Solutions Journalism Collaborative in partnership with Nushrat Rahman, Hayley Harding, Bill Kubota, Jennifer Brookland and Cassie Chew for coverage of maternal and infant health in Michigan.

 

View the full list of 2025 Society of Professional Journalism – Detroit Chapter award winners here.