Reuters names investigative projects editor

Mike Williams, global enterprise editor at Reuters, made the following announcement to the staff on Thursday afternoon:

I’m pleased to announce that Blake Morrison, currently the investigations editor at USA Today, will be joining Reuters in the new role of Investigative Projects Editor.

Blake has worked as a reporter and editor at USA Today since October 1999. As the investigations editor there, he leads a four-person team and works closely with a group of database editors.

Blake’s team has earned a reputation for doing creative work with high impact on public policy. His investigation of the impact of industrial pollution on American schoolchildren spurred the Environmental Protection Agency to launch a $2.25 million project to examine the air outside more than 60 schools across the nation. The reporting earned Blake and colleague Brad Heath the Grantham Prize, a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism and half a dozen other awards.

Morrison was also part of an investigation that examined the quality and safety of food served to American children at schools. The investigation prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to launch sweeping reforms that raised the quality and safety standards for food served to 31
million children each day. It also earned the top investigative reporting award from the Education Writers Association.

Before joining USA Today, Blake spent six years as a reporter and editor at the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press. There, he worked on the metro desk and as an investigative reporter.

Blake will be based in New York, reporting to me. Please join me in wishing him success in his new role.