Congratulations, I’m sorry

This morning we are lifting our hats to the winners of the most coveted prize in print journalism?the Pulitzer Prize. But for some winners, their victories were bittersweet. For one winner, Ryan Gabrielson, his prize is shared with a colleague who was let go in a round of layoffs at the paper, the East Valley Tribune. Also gone is the editor who he worked with on the award-winning series. We’ve covered the trials and tribulations of The Detroit Free Press in the past, but the paper garnered accolades for its investigative reporting this year.

Joining The Takeaway now is M.L. Elrick. Mr. Elrick and his colleague Jim Schafer won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting at the Detroit Free Press for uncovering the text message scandal that ended up sending Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to jail. tey were able to show that Kilpatrick and his aide (and girlfriend) lied under oath at a 2007 police whistleblower trial. Read his series, Kwame Kilpatrick: A Mayor in Crisis.

Also joining the discussion is Ryan Gabrielson, staff writer and 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner for local news reporting from the East Valley Tribune in Phoenix, Arizona. He and his colleague Paul Giblin won for reporting on Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s immigration enforcement roundups, including the question of whether racial profiling was being used by deputies. Their series of articles also looked at how response times and criminal investigations in areas policed by the sheriff had suffered because of the diversion of more resources to the immigration roundups. Read their story here: Reasonable Doubt.