JUNE 6 • 2024 | 21
J
N

T

he 2024 Society of Professional 
Journalists (SPJ) Detroit’s 
Excellence in Journalism Awards 
took place on May 15 and, once again, the 
Detroit Jewish News brought 
home a host of awards.
In the Community/Local 
News reporting category, Stacy 
Gittleman and Keri Guten 
Cohen won the third-place 
award for their “Diversity 
Day Fallout” story, a follow-
up story gaining insight from 
students, parents and officials 
after a diversity day panel at 
Bloomfield Hills High School 
backfired.
In the Cover Design 
category, the ever-talented 
Michelle Sheridan won the 
third-place award for “A Mural 
for Idan.” For the Inside Page 
Design (Newspapers Only) 
category, Sheridan took 
home the first- and second-
place awards for “A Heartfelt 
Thank You” and “
A High Tide 
of Hate?” respectively. In the Magazine 
Spread Design category, Sheridan won the 
third-place award for “The Mural Magic of 
Solomon Souza.”
In the Education Reporting 
category, Danny Schwartz won 
the third-place award for “To 
Be Jewish on Campus,” which 
detailed the experiences of 
Jewish students and staff on 
several college campuses in 
Michigan since Oct. 7. 
In the General Column 
Writing category, Marni Raitt 
won the second place award 
for “Coming Home — Again,” 
“The Chosen Ones” and “The 

Great Gefilte Fish Fiasco.” 
Mike Smith won the third-
place award for his Looking 
Back pieces, “Velvet Peanut 
Butter,” “The Jewish Catskills” 
and “50 Years Since the U.S. 
Left Vietnam.” Alan Muskovitz 
took home the fourth-place 
award for “Breakin’ Up with 
My Landline,” “80 is the New 
40” and “Can You Relate?”
In the General News 
Reporting category, Keri 
Guten Cohen and Don 
Cohen won the first-place 
award for “March for Israel,” 
highlighting 900+ Detroiters 
who traveled to the National 
Mall in Washington, D.C., to 
proclaim their support for 
Israel, though not all of them 
made it to the rally due to a 
bus driver boycott. “Well-written, very 
descriptive and the sidebar piece covered 
an unexpected twist,” the judges wrote.
Stacy Gittleman took home the second-
place award for “We’re All Spartans Now,” 
which detailed the experiences of Jewish 
students, parents and staff after the 
February 2023 mass shooting at Michigan 
State University.
In addtion, in the Headline Writing 
category, David Sachs took home the 
first-place award for several 
headlines including: “A High 
Tide of Hate?; “A Hero in 
War and Peace; In Tune with 
the Law; A Heartfelt ‘Thank 
You’; A ‘Mezuzah’ in the 
Heart of Detroit.” The judges 
wrote, “Great play on words, 
effectively summarizing each.” 
Mazel tov to our hard-working Detroit 
Jewish News family on their SPJ awards! 

Jewish News 
 Wins Big Again

Stacy 
Gittleman 

Michelle 
Sheridan 

Marni Raitt 

Keri Guten 
Cohen

Danny 
Schwartz 

Mike Smith 

Don Cohen 

Alan 
Muskovitz 

David 
Sachs

JN STAFF

