MUSICAL CHAIRS
Facing an active political year, the two Detroit daily newspapers and other publications have changed their line up of talent, starting with The Detroit News, adding last year former Michigan Campaign Finance Network and one-time MIRS reporter Craig Mauger as a reporter in the Lansing bureau. Mauger was most recently named the Journalist of the Year by the Detroit chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). The Detroit News in May added Chad Livengood, who was most recently with Crain’s Detroit Business as a senior editor. Livengood was at one time the Lansing bureau chief for The Detroit News. Now he will be the politics editor and a columnist. Bridge Michigan has added Laureen Gibbons as Capitol watchdog reporter. Gibbons had served two years covering the Senate for MIRS and then six years covering the state government for MLive. Over at the Detroit Free Press, M.L. Elrick has returned as of May to fill the role of columnist following an unsuccessful 2021 run for Detroit City Council. Elrick, a decorated investigative reporter, has also done stints with Fox-2 and WDIV Channel 4. He was part of the team which won the Pulitzer Prize for the Detroit Free Press for Local Reporting in 2009, with coverage of the Kwame Kilpatrick scandal in Detroit