Detroit personal finance columnist wins award

Brian J. O’Connor, personal finance columnist for The Detroit News, has been named winner of the Christopher J. Welles Memorial Prize at Columbia University.

The award goes to an exemplary piece of business journalism produced in the last 12 months by an alumnus of the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship.

O’Connor, a Knight-Bagehot Fellow from the class of 2001, was honored for his “Grand Experiment” series in The Detroit News, a series of columns where he humorously documents his attempt to cut $1,000 from his family budget.

The series also was named a “Best in Business” winner earlier this year by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.

Read more here.