by
M.L. Elrick
Detroit Free Press investigative columnist M.L. Elrick, who writes a weekly "On Guard" column often exposing the wrongdoing or hypocrisy of local and state politicians, has been awarded the Scripps Howard Journalism Award for Excellence in Opinion Writing.
“M.L. Elrick exposes politicians and public officials who break the rules or fail to do their jobs, providing the public with crucial information they can’t find elsewhere to make informed decisions,” Scripps Howard writes on its award page.
The award also recognizes the student investigative reporting program Eye on Michigan based in Detroit and East Lansing, which Elrick founded.
His wife, Tresa Baldas—also a reporter for the Detroit Free Press—posted on Facebook:
“So, so proud of this one—yet again. M.L. Elrick, the hardest-working and most dedicated reporter I know, won a national Scripps Howard journalism award for Excellence in Opinion Writing.”
Elrick’s bio on the Free Press website states:
M.L. Elrick is a Pulitzer Prize– and Emmy Award–winning investigative reporter. He is a native East Sider who has worked at just about every news organization in town and has lived in Detroit since moving back to Michigan in 1999. Elrick is co-author of The Kwame Sutra: Musings on Lust, Life and Leadership from Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and host of the ML's Soul of Detroit podcast: www.mlsoulofdetroit.com.
In 2009, Elrick and Jim Schaefer won the Pulitzer Prize for the Free Press for their coverage of then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and a sex scandal that led to serious repercussions for the city and its citizens. It also led to imprisonment for Kilpatrick and his chief of staff Christine Beatty.
According to its website, the Scripps Howard Fund is a public charity established by The E.W. Scripps Company. It is dedicated to creating informed and engaged communities through journalism education, childhood literacy, and support for local causes.
