Michael L. Elrick (born 1968) is an American journalist based in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, Michigan, where he has worked for the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...

'' and for

WJBK-TV WJBK (channel 2) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, airing programming from the Fox network. Owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilitie ...

. Elrick attended the Grosse Pointe school system; attending Defer Elementary, Pierce Middle, and graduated from GP South High in 1985. Elrick graduated from Michigan State University in 1990 with a

Bachelor of Journalism The Bachelor of Journalism (B.J.) degree is a degree awarded at some universities to students who have studied journalism in a three or four year undergraduate program. In the United States, some schools that do not award the B.J. degree instead c ...

degree. He wrote for the '' Concord (N.H.) Monitor'', and ''

Daily Southtown The ''Daily Southtown'' (formerly ''SouthtownStar'') is a newspaper of the Chicago, Illinois, United States metropolitan area that covers the south suburbs and the South Side neighborhoods of the city – a wide region known as the Chicago S ...

'' in Chicago. His work has appeared in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', '' Newsday'', '' Investigative Reporters and Editors Journal'',

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

, Rollingstone.com, the '' National Law Journal'', ''

Chicago Magazine ''Chicago'' is a monthly magazine published by Tribune Publishing. It concentrates on lifestyle and human interest stories, and on reviewing restaurants, travel, fashion, and theatre from or nearby Chicago. Its circulation in 2004 was 165,000, l ...

'' and ''

Hour Detroit ''Hour Detroit'' is a monthly city magazine covering the Metro Detroit area. The magazine uses a glossy oversized format and features content on restaurants, arts and entertainment, and trends in fashion and décor. It began publication in 1996 and ...

'' magazine. He teaches journalism at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

, Michigan State, and

University of Michigan-Dearborn A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

. With the ''

'' Elrick was one member of a team that covered Detroit Mayor

Kwame Kilpatrick Kwame Malik Kilpatrick (born June 8, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the 72nd mayor of Detroit from 2002 to 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the 9th district in the Michigan House of Repres ...

, and uncovered the scandals that led to his 2008 resignation from office and criminal conviction. Elrick and other reporters filed a

Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act * ...

lawsuit that was heard by the

Michigan Supreme Court The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the sta ...

. The ''Detroit Free Press'' staff, which notably included contributors Elrick and

Jim Schaefer Jim Schaefer is an American journalist based in Detroit, Michigan, where he works as an investigative journalist for the ''Detroit Free Press''. Life and career Schaefer graduated from Ohio State University. He was an investigative producer for ...

, shared the 2009

Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting The Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting is awarded to an example of "local reporting that illuminates significant issues or concerns." This Pulitzer Prize was first awarded in 1948. Like most Pulitzers the winner receives a $15,000 award. History ...

, which cited the staff's "uncovering of a pattern of lies by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick that included denial of a sexual relationship with his female chief of staff, prompting an investigation of perjury that eventually led to jail terms for the two officials." Elrick was a news reporter for both stations Fox-2 and WDIV Channel 4 in Detroit. He is considering a run for Detroit City Council in 2021. He is married and has two children.

Awards

* 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Journalism"The 2009 Pulitzer Prize Winners: Local Reporting"
The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-11-02. With short biographies and reprints of ten works (''Free Press'' articles January 24 to September 5, 2008). * 2009 1st Amendment Watchdog Award * 2008

George Polk Award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...

* 2008

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

Managing Editors Public Service Award * 2008 Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Reporting. * 2005 Clark Mollenhoff Award for Investigative Reporting

References

External links

*
"Transcript of chat with Free Press reporter M.L. Elrick"
''Detroit Free Press'', Jan. 25, 2008
Alumnus helps win Pulitzer for Free Press
* (?) {{DEFAULTSORT:Elrick, M. L. American male journalists Journalists from Michigan Living people George Polk Award recipients Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting winners 1968 births Wayne State University faculty Michigan State University faculty University of Michigan–Dearborn people Detroit Free Press people Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)