A journalist for WJR, a Detroit News sports writer and a Detroit Free Press political writer will be inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame on Saturday.
The Hall of Fame, which has been honoring individuals involved in the journalism business for 19 years, will induct Joe Falls, Rod Hansen and Hugh McDiarmid at a ceremony at the Kellogg Center on Saturday for their years of work in the field.
"The inductees stand for excellent service in their career in journalism," said Jane Briggs-Bunting, the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame chair and director of MSU's School of Journalism.
"These people are the best of the best," she said. "They stand for principle and have made profound changes in journalism."
Falls, who has been a journalist for 57 years, has covered such events as the Olympics, the Kentucky Derby and several World Series.
Although he has been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, he says that being inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame is an honor because the award is given specifically for his journalism work.
"The other awards have been nice, but (this) is special because I have always thought of myself as a journalist before a sports writer," he said.
Mark Silverman, editor and publisher of The Detroit News, says that Falls is a national sports journalism icon.
"I think Joe has left an enduring mark on journalism," he said. "Several generations have grown up with him as part of their sports diet; to people in and outside of Detroit, he represented Major League Baseball."
The award also will be given to broadcaster Hansen, who has worked at WJR for 37 years and has won two Peabody Awards for broadcast journalism, among other recognitions.
"He's one of the best reporters in Michigan today," said David Ashenfelter, a reporter for the Detroit Free Press and member of the Hall of Fame. Ashenfelter nominated Hansen for the award.
Hansen said the award is significant because the other awards he has won have been for broadcast journalism.
"The stories I remember are the ones that really made a difference in someone's lives," Hansen said.
Hansen helped report on the Detroit riots in 1967 and is best known for his investigative work, where he has helped free several individuals from prison who had been wrongly convicted because of flawed evidence.
McDiarmid, the third journalist to be inducted this year, worked as the chief of the Lansing bureau of the Detroit Free Press and also was a political columnist.
McDiarmid said the thing he is most proud of and enjoyed about his career was writing about politicians.
"You're looking over the shoulders of these people. If political journalists weren't doing what we're doing, politicians might get away with more stuff." McDiarmid said.
Carole Leigh Hutton, publisher and editor of the Detroit Free Press, agrees.
"Hugh had an incredible way of nailing politics and of holding politicians accountable; he didn't let stuff past him," Hutton said.
Falls, McDiarmid and Hansen will bring the total number of journalists in the Hall of Fame to 112.
