3/26/02

A team of reporters from the Detroit Free Press and broadcast journalist Scott MacFarlane of WKBD/WWJ -TV in Detroit have been named winners of the State Bar of Michigan's 28th Annual Wade H. McCree Awards for the Advancement of Justice.

The McCree awards are presented to outstanding print and broadcast media journalists each year for their role in helping to promote a greater understanding of the legal system to the general public.

The Free Press team submitted a series of reports on police dragnets in the Detroit area. Pulitzer prize winner David Ashenfelter, who's also a recipient of nine previous McCree Awards, is one of the Free Press writers. Other winning reporters are: Tamara Audi, Suzette Hackney, Jim Schaefer, Joe Swickard, David Zeman, and editor Alison Young.

The winner in the broadcast category, Scott MacFarlane, submitted reports that examined a debate over a Michigan Department of Corrections rule forbidding cameras inside state prisons as well as a series involving Michigan Supreme Court and Court of Appeals rulings.

The McCree Awards will be presented during the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday, April 20, 2002, at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing.

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