Lindsey Smith and Kate Wells of Michigan Radio named Society of Professional

Journalists
Detroit’s Journalist of the Year

DETROIT – The Detroit chapter of Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ Detroit)

today announced Lindsey Smith and Kate Wells of Michigan Radio, 2018 Journalists of
the Year.

Lindsey Smith and Kate Wells have continually demonstrated a strong commitment to
quality journalism, attention to detail, energy and absolute enthusiasm about their work.
They also have the ability to develop sources on complicated stories, treat victims
sensitively and tell difficult stories with a sensitive, yet compelling narrative style. The
talents of their partnership can be heard in the podcast series Believed.

“Congratulations to Kate Wells and Lindsey Smith for their outstanding work in broadcast
journalism on Michigan Radio,” said Beth Konrad, president, Society of Professional
Journalists, Detroit Chapter.

SPJ Detroit on Thursday gave out nearly 240 awards at the chapter’s Excellence in
Journalism banquet at the San Marino Club in Troy.

Allie Gross, a Detroit Free Press reporter, was named Young Journalist of the Year for
2018. A graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Gross joined
the staff of the Free Press in 2017 after time as a staff writer at the Detroit Metro Times,
a Ben Bagdikian Fellow at Mother Jones and a freelancer.

Runner-ups for Journalist and Young Journalist of the Year include the following:

Finalists for Journalist of the Year are: Finalists for Young Journalist of the Year
• Jennifer Dixon, Detroit Free Press are:
• Kim Kozlowski, The Detroit News • Darcie Moran, MLive
• Sarah Rahal, The Detroit News

Several of Metro Detroit’s most respected journalists have been selected by the SPJ
Detroit board of directors to receive this year’s Lifetime Achievement Awards.

The historic careers of Angelo B. Henderson and Felecia D. Henderson offer a

magnificent mural of journalistic achievement in Metro Detroit. The lives and career
paths of this power couple have been intertwined from their departures from their native
Louisville, Ky., to their arrival in 1989 to the Detroit market.

Angelo Henderson would win a Pulitzer Prize in 1999 as senior special writer for Page
One at The Wall Street Journal, prior to serving as an automotive reporter
and Detroit deputy bureau chief. He would eventually leave print media, join the ministry,
and become the daily host of “Your Voice with Angelo Henderson” on WCHB-AM, until
his death in 2014.

Felecia Henderson would rise to become an assistant managing editor for features and
presentation at The Detroit News in 2007, and eventually be named a Pulitzer Prize
nominating juror in 2018 and chairing the prize’s feature writing jury. She took a buyout
from the paper in 2019 and founded RAVE Strategic Communications LLC, a consulting
firm.

In addition to their illustrious journalistic careers, both were active in the metro
community, having won numerous awards in both fields.

Felecia Henderson’s career includes stints at the Cincinnati Post and the Courier-
Journal in Louisville. Although she joined The Detroit News in 1989, she joined the
Detroit Free Press as an assistant features editor before re-joining The News 18 months
later. She is a graduate of Murray State University, which honored her with a 2019
distinguished alumni award. She also earned a master’s degree in organizational
development from Bowling Green (Ohio) State University.

Angelo Henderson’s career included stints at the St. Petersburg Times, The Courier-
Journal and two tours at The Detroit News. He also served at one point as an associate
editor at Real Times Inc., a newspaper chain that includes The Michigan Chronicle and
The Chicago Defender. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, and later was
inducted into the school’s Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame. In 2018, he was
posthumously named a distinguished alumnus of the university’s College of
Communications and Information.

As President and CEO of Detroit Public Television (DPTV), Rich Hombergmanages the
largest and only community-licensed public television station in Michigan with over 2
million viewers weekly. He was one of the first to recognize the crucial importance of
public television taking a leadership role in local journalism and public affairs.

Under his guidance, DPTV has established an active and growing editorial team in the
heart of Detroit. Last year, it premiered the weekly “One Detroit” news program, featuring
on-location reports based on deep immersion in the communities it covers. It has
adopted an innovative model for solutions journalism, taping frequent “roadshows, live
community conversations at which residents are able to hear directly from public officials
and community leaders on the issues that matter most to their lives, families and
neighborhoods.

Prior to joining DPTV, Homberg was vice president and general manager of WWJ
Newsradio 950 in Detroit for more than 20 years. Under his direction the station won
numerous awards for breaking news and was consistently one of the city’s highest rated
stations.

For nearly 40 years as a Detroit Free Press photographer and editor Mary
Schroeder was on the side-lines and frontlines of some of Detroit’s most memorable
moments. She’s best known for the iconic image of Detroit Tiger Kirk Gibson leaping in
victory after his second home run in Game 5 of the World Series, but she was also a
pioneer for women in journalism. In 1983 at age 26, Schroeder was the only female
sports photographer in the country covering sports full time for a major newspaper. In
1985, she was a plaintiff in a lawsuit asking that the Detroit Lions allow equal access in
the locker room to male and female reporters and photographers. In the last decade of
her career, Schroeder worked as a picture editor -- coaching young photographers and
reporters about photography, and Detroit and Free Press history.
In addition, Danny Raskin of the Detroit Jewish News was honored for his more than
75 years as a weekly columnist and restaurant critic with a Legacy Award.

The Journalist of the Year honors and Excellence in Journalism awards were selected
by a jury of veteran journalists and educators from several news media outlets outside
Metro Detroit.

For more information, please visit www.spjdetroit.org [spjdetroit.org].

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