Rochelle Riley facts for kids
Rochelle Riley is an important leader in the city of Detroit. She is currently the Director of Arts and Culture. Before this, she was a well-known writer for the Detroit Free Press newspaper. Her articles were published all over the country. She often wrote about making race relations better, helping people learn to read, building strong communities, and supporting children.
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About Rochelle Riley
Rochelle Riley grew up in Tarboro, North Carolina. Her grandparents, Willie Bennie Pitt and Lowney Hilliard Pitt, helped raise her. She once shared that her grandmother's curiosity made her interested in current events. Rochelle has one daughter. She studied journalism and English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2008, she completed a special program at the University of Michigan.
Rochelle Riley's Career
Rochelle Riley has appeared on many news shows, like NPR, MSNBC, CNN, and FOX2. She has worked as an editor or reporter at several major newspapers. These include The Washington Post, The Dallas Morning News, and The (Louisville) Courier-Journal.
From 1992 to 1996, she was a deputy managing editor in Louisville. Then, from 1996 to 2000, she was an associate editor and columnist. From 2000 to 2019, she wrote columns for the Detroit Free Press. In 1985, while working at The Dallas Morning News, she started a workshop. This workshop helped train young people from diverse backgrounds to become journalists.
Important Journalism and Advocacy
Rochelle Riley's articles about former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick were part of a team effort. This effort won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting. The Pulitzer Prize is one of the highest awards in journalism.
She is also known for being an excellent journalist and for helping new journalists. She works to make sure newsrooms have people from many different backgrounds. Because of this, she won the Ida B. Wells Award. This award came from the National Association of Black Journalists and Northwestern University.
Rochelle also supports press freedom. She has worked for many years to help children have better lives. She also pushes for government to be responsible and for better race relations. She has helped raise almost $2 million to support reading programs in Michigan.
Awards and Recognition
Rochelle Riley is known as one of the top African-American journalists in the United States. She has received many awards for her articles. In 1992, she became the first African-American news executive at The Courier-Journal in Louisville.
Here are some of the awards she has received:
- 2021: Inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame
- 2019: Inducted into the N.C. Media and Journalism Hall of Fame
- 2019: National Headliner Award
- 2017: NABJ Ida B. Wells Award
- 2017: Pulliam Editorial Fellowship
- 2016: Inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame
- 2013: National Headliner Award
- 2011: National Scripps Howard Award
- 2011: Will Rogers Humanitarian Award
- 2010: Harvey Beech Distinguished Alumni Award
- 2009: Pulitzer Prize for local reporting
- 2004: National Journalism Award for Distinguished Service to Literacy
See also
