Melvin Claxton

Melvin Claxton
Born Antigua
Nationality United States
Alma mater University of the Virgin Islands
Occupation CEO, Epic 4D LLC
Years active 1982 – Present
Known for Pulitzer Prize for Public Service (Winner, 1995), (Finalist, 2003)
Website

Melvin L. Claxton (born in 1958) is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of Epic 4D, an educational video game company. He has written extensively on crime, corruption, and the abuse of political power. He is best known for his 1995 series of investigative reports on corruption in the criminal justice system in the U.S. Virgin Islands and its links to the region's rampant crime rate. His series earned the Virgin Islands Daily News the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1995.[1][2][3] Another series by Mr. Claxton, this time on the failures of the criminal justice system in Detroit was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2003.[4][5] Claxton has won many prestigious national reporting awards and his work has been honored several times by the Associated Press managing editors.[6]

Career

Claxton began his journalism career at The Virgin Islands Daily News as an intern in 1983 while majoring in economics and journalism at the University of the Virgin Islands. Two years later, he became the newspaper's seventh full-time reporter. Then, he held senior investigative reporting positions at the The Chicago Tribune, The Detroit News, and The Tennessean newspapers.[7] He featured in a segment of Prime Time, the popular ABC-TV news magazine show.

The "Virgin Islands Crime: Who's to Blame?" series

In December 1994, Claxton wrote a series of reports for The Virgin Islands Daily News. The reports resulted in a series titled "Virgin Island Crime: Who's to Blame?" and identified numerous issues: criminals getting guns easily, law-enforcement corruption and incompetence, inept criminal prosecutions, judges handing out light sentences and a flawed probation system. The reports revealed the extent of criminal infiltration into the territory of the criminal justice system. The publication of the series had a significant impact on the whole judicial system of the islands that a new police commissioner and attorney general were appointed and a narcotics official resigned. In 1995, the series was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.[1][2][3] The Pulitzer committee stated: "Awarded to The Virgin Islands Daily News, St. Thomas, for its disclosure of the links between the region's rampant crime rate and corruption in the local criminal justice system. The reporting, largely the work of Melvin Claxton, initiated political reforms."[1][8]

Career timeline

Publications

Books

Notable articles

Awards and recognition

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "The 1995 Pulitzer Prize Winners – Public Service". pulitzer.org. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Pulitzer Prizes: Journalism and the Arts Bestow a Most Prestigious Honor". The New York Times. 1995-04-19. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 "Virgin Islands Daily News Wins Pulitzer for Public Service". Associated Press. 1995-04-18.
  4. 1 2 "Washington Post and Los Angeles Times Each Win Three Pulitzer Prizes". The New York Times. 8 April 2003. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Winners, finalists for Pulitzer Prizes". The Chicago Tribune. 8 April 2003. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  6. ↑ "2000 IRE Awards winners". The Civil Rights Cold Case Project. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  7. ↑ Richard Prince (16 August 2007). "Outraged by the Violence - Melvin Claxton Takes Tennessean Buyout". Maynard Institute. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  8. ↑ "Blacks Win Pulitzer Prizes for 1995". Jet (magazine) (Johnson Publishing Company) 87 (26): 23. 8 May 1995. ISSN 0021-5996.
  9. ↑ Gaines, William; Claxton, Melvin (29 December 1997). "M-1 Garand Cuts A Violent Path". The Chicago Tribune ( Chicago, Illinois: The Chicago Tribune). Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  10. ↑ Claxton, Melvin; Puls, Mark. Uncommon valor : a story of race, patriotism, and glory in the final battles of the Civil War.
  11. ↑ Beard, David (29 June 2006). "A little-told tale of Civil War bravery gets deserved attention". Boston.com (The Boston Globe).
  12. ↑ Claxton, Melvin; Claxton, Ira. The Book Of Love. LLCPublication. p. 72. ISBN 9781439219904.
  13. ↑ "Virgin Islands crime : who's to blame?". Virgin Islands Daily News (Tarlton Law Library, Jamail Center for Legal Research, The University of Texas School of Law: Virgin Islands Daily News). December 1994.
  14. ↑ "Fire Sale: America’s unchecked gun market". Investigative Reporters and Editors. 2000. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  15. ↑ Gaines, William; Claxton, Melvin (29 December 1997). "M-1 Garand Cuts A Violent Path". The Chicago Tribune ( Chicago, Illinois: The Chicago Tribune). Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  16. ↑ Claxton, Melvin. "Detroit Fire Department: Out of Service". The Detroit News (Detroit: The Detroit News). Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  17. ↑ "Former Award Recipients: The Clark Mollenhoff Award - Past Winners". The Fund for American Studies. 2003. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  18. ↑ Melvin Claxton (1 November 2007). "Nashville murders cost more than $18 million a year". The Tennessean. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  19. ↑ Claxton, Melvin. "Sexual Abuse Behind Bars : Detroit News Special Report". The Detroit News (Detroit: The Detroit News). Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  20. ↑ Geoff Boucher (2 May 1997). "O.C. Times Photojournalist Wins Robert Kennedy Award". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  21. 1 2 Source staff (4 April 2001). "Claxton continues winning streak". St. Thomas Source. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  22. ↑ "National Headliner Awards Winners". Associated Press. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  23. ↑ "2000 IRE Awards winners". Investigative Reporters and Editors. 2000. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  24. ↑ Staff, The Observer (26 February 1998). "Observer Writer Wins Education Award". The Dallas Observer (Dallas: The Dallas Observer). Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  25. ↑ "Al Nakkula Award Winners". Denver Press Club. 1995. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  26. ↑ "Nakkula Award – Past Winners". University of Colorado Boulder. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  27. ↑ "Scripps Howard Awards: Past Winners" (PDF). Scripps Howard Foundation. 1994. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, April 10, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.