Michigan Radio's investigative reporter, Lester Graham, has been selected as a winner of the 2012 State Bar of Michigan Wade H. McCree Award for the Advancement of Justice. Graham was recognized for his five-part series on Michigan’s no-fault insurance law, which aired in October and November, 2011. The series examined the impact of efforts to change the state’s mandatory no-fault auto insurance, and the effect it could have on people badly injured in automobile accidents as well as auto insurance rates.
The McCree Awards recognize Michigan broadcast and print media journalists who foster greater public understanding of the values of our legal and judicial system, and “…disclose practices in need of improvement and encourage legal and legislative efforts to update and modernize our laws, courts, and law enforcement agencies.” The award is named after distinguished Michigan attorney Wade H. McCree, who served as judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals and Solicitor General of the United States.
Other news organizations cited by the State Bar of Michigan were the Detroit Free Press, Detroit Metro Times, MLive Media Group and WXYZ-TV. The awards will be presented in April in conjunction with the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in East Lansing.
