DBusiness magazine took home one Gold and two Silver awards in the annual Alliance of Area Business Publishers national editorial excellence awards program for 2024 coverage.
Since its start in 2006, DBusiness has been honored with close to 80 national editorial excellence awards from the AABP, including being named the top regional business magazine in the country.
For the most recent awards, Gold honors went to writer John Sitkiewicz for his story “The Politics of Water” in the Best Investigative Reporting category. Silver plaudits went to the writing team of Dan Calabrese and Michelle Cohl for the “What’s on Tap?” article in the Best Feature Single Story category and to regular contributor Norm Sinclair for Patents and Innovations in the Best Recurring Feature category.
“I’d like to extend my gratitude and congratulations to the entire DBusiness team for these prestigious, national awards,” says R.J. King, editor of DBusiness magazine. “Detroit, the region, and the state offer a rich tapestry of businesses and organizations, and we will continue, as we have from Day 1, to uphold the highest standards of journalism for our readers.”
Of Sitkiewicz’s Gold-winning 2024 work about the lead water crises in Flint and Benton Harbor, the judges wrote: “A lot of data was pulled together to help the reader understand a complex, important issue in a way that is thoroughly reported and clearly told.”
Patents and Innovations, according to the judges, “offers fun surprises and interesting tidbits for its readers with a historical narrative about local people who changed the world. While the stories take readers on a historical journey the photos also bring recognition to trailblazers in the community.
Judges wrote about Calabrese and Cohl’s “What’s on Tap?”: “What made this story a standout was its smart analysis about the aftereffects of the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit, from the way it impacted the economy to the lift it gave to the city’s spirits to the universal satisfaction with its success. The clever drawings and colorful design elements were an added bonus.”
AABP conducts its Editorial and Design Excellence Competition annually. The competition is coordinated and judged by faculty at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. The purpose of the competition is to encourage a high level of journalistic performance and service to communities by recognizing editorial excellence and outstanding visual presentation in regional business publications.
