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Video Update: Freep's Stephen Henderson Wins Pulitzer Prize

April 14, 2014, 3:12 PM

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Stephen Henderson, head of the Detroit Free Press editorial page, won the coveted Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

The prize, announced Monday afternoon, went to Henderson for for "his columns on the financial crisis facing his hometown, written with passion and a stirring sense of place, sparing no one in their critique."

A colleague videotaped the moment when he learned the news (see below). The Pulitzer site posts the two-page nominating letter submitted in January by Paul Anger, editor and publisher. "He has the courage to ignore the pressure of politics and the hate sometimes directed at him personally," the paper's top executive wrote.    

Henderson gets a $10,000 check as well as a prize certificate. He's invited to receive the prestigious honor next month at a luncheon ceremony at Columbia University, which administers the awards named for publisher Joseph Pulitzer. 

Commentary finalists were Kevin Cullen for Boston Globe columns that capture the spirit of a city, especially after its famed Marathon was devastated by terrorist bombings; and Lisa Falkenberg of the Houdston Chronicle for provocative metro columns written from the perspective of a sixth-generation Texan, often challenging the powerful and giving voice to the voiceless, the Pulitzer committee wrote.

A Detroit native who lives downtown, Henderson is a graduate of University of Detroit High School and the University of Michigan.

He has been a reporter, editorial writer and editor for the Free Press, the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, the Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun. Before returning to Detroit in 1997, he spent four years covering the U.S. Supreme Court for the Knight Ridder (now McClatchy) Washington Bureau.

Henderson is a familiar face on Detroit television: He is co-host of "MiWeek” and  host of “American Black Journal” both on Detroit Public Television.

Last July, he spoke about Detroit’s bankruptcy on "The Colbert Report" and gave Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert a hoodie sweatshirt that said "Detroit vs. Everybody.” 

Five years ago, two other Free Press staff members -- reporters Jim Schaefer and M.L. Elrick (now at Fox 2 Detroit) -- shared a local reporting Pulitzer for breaking Kwame Kilp[atrick's text message scandal, which led to the ex-mayor's resignation and jailing.  

In a Facebook post Monday, Schaefer congratulates Henderson and adds: "! I just showered his ass with Champagne!"   



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