2017 Gridiron Awards Dinner also to honor:
David Fahrenthold, reporter, The Washington Post,
Howard Fuller, PhD, civil rights activist and education reform advocate
Carmen Pitre, president and chief executive officer, Sojourner Family Peace Center
The Milwaukee Press Club today announced finalists in the 87th Annual MPC Awards for Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism competition.
Finalists are presented by contest category, and listed alphabetically by organization. Click here for contest results.
Winners of contest awards — gold, silver or bronze – will be announced May 12 at the club’s Gridiron Awards Dinner at the InterContinental Hotel in Milwaukee.
This year’s contest garnered more than 600 entries from throughout Wisconsin in professional and collegiate categories. The competition was judged by professional journalists from press clubs throughout the U.S., including statewide clubs in Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Idaho and Michigan and in metro area clubs in Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco and Syracuse.
Other Gridiron honorees:
David Fahrenthold, a reporter at The Washington Post, will receive the Sacred Cat Award, which recognizes professional achievement.
Fahrenthold joined the Post in 2000 after graduating from Harvard University. Since then, he has covered a variety of beats including homicides, Congress and the 2016 presidential election. After being assigned to cover several of the GOP candidates, all of whom eventually dropped out of the race, Fahrenthold turned his attention to how the Donald J. Trump Foundation was spending its money.
Howard Fuller, PhD, a civil rights activist and education reform advocate, will receive a Headliner Award. In 2011, Fuller was named by Forbes Magazine as one of the seven top educators in the world. Fuller’s work began decades ago and over the years, he fought for civil rights and was an early, staunch advocate of voucher schools. Currently, Fuller is Distinguished Professor of Education and Dean of Marquette University’s Institute for the Transformation of Learning. His prior roles include Superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Employment Relations, Director of the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services and Dean of General Education at Milwaukee Area Technical College. In 2014, Fuller released a memoir, “No Struggle, No Progress.”
Carmen Pitre, president and chief executive officer of Sojourner Family Peace Center, also will receive a Headliner Award. Pitre has spent the majority of her adult life working with and for victims of domestic violence. In 2016, after a decade of planning, Sojourner Family Peace Center opened a new shelter that also houses the Milwaukee Police Department’s Sensitive Crimes Unit, and provides services through partnerships with Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Public Schools, the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, Aurora Healthcare Abuse Response Services and others. It is the largest nonprofit provider of domestic violence prevention and intervention services in Wisconsin and is one of the first co-located child advocacy and family violence centers in the country. Pitre has said she grew up in a violent home and knows it’s possible to end the cycle of abuse. Her hope is that the Sojourner Family Peace Center can help bring an end to domestic violence.
The Headliner Awards are presented annually to those who are making a positive difference in Wisconsin.
For additional information or to register for the Gridiron Awards Dinner, please visit our website at www.milwaukeepressclub.org or contact Joette Richards at Joette@milwaukeepressclub.org or 262-894-2224.
