Michael M. "Mike" York (born April 10, 1953) is an American journalist and attorney. In the early 1980s, as the Washington correspondent for the '' Lexington Herald-Leader'', he co-authored a series of exposes on improper cash payoffs to University of Kentucky basketball players which won him and his co-author, Jeffrey A. Marx, the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting.

Early life and education

Michael M. York was born on April 10, 1953, in

High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph, Davidson, and Forsyth counties. High Point is North Carolina's only city that ...

. In 1974 he graduated from the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

, where he majored in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...

, and four years later graduated from the

University of North Carolina School of Law The University of North Carolina School of Law is the law school of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Established in 1845, Carolina Law is among the oldest law schools in the United States and is the oldest law school in North Caro ...

Career

He wrote for the ''

Durham Morning Herald ''The Herald-Sun'' is an American, English language daily newspaper in Durham, North Carolina, published by the McClatchy Company. History ''The Herald-Sun'' began publication on January 1, 1991, as the result of a merger of ''The Durham Mo ...

'' and the ''Legal Times of Washington'' and served as an attorney for the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission before joining the '' Lexington Herald-Leader'' in 1979. In 1981 he became the paper's Washington correspondent. It was during this time that, along with Jeffrey A. Marx, he authored "Playing Above the Rules", a series of articles exposing improper cash payoffs to University of Kentucky basketball players and improper offers made to recruits by other universities. The authors interviewed 33 former Wildcats – some of whom spoke to Marx and York with the goal of ending the abuses – and the paper sued the university and the state of Kentucky under

freedom of information Freedom of information is freedom of a person or people to publish and consume information. Access to information is the ability for an individual to seek, receive and impart information effectively. This sometimes includes "scientific, Indigeno ...

laws to get detailed information, including the names of specific violators, for the series. The initial reaction to the series was strongly negative: subscribers and advertisers boycotted the ''Herald-Leader'', local media outlets heavily criticized the outlet and accused it of "sensationalism", and the authors received

death threat A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a de ...

s. However, the piece earned Marx and York the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting, and led to

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

regulation changes. York later became an investigative reporter for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', where he broke news of the investigations of United States Representatives

Dan Rostenkowski Daniel David Rostenkowski (January 2, 1928 – August 11, 2010) was a United States Representative from Chicago, serving for 36 years, from 1959 to 1995. He became one of the most powerful legislators in Congress, especially in matters of ta ...

and Carroll Hubbard. He started his own legal practice in 1994.

Personal life

He is married to Rebecca Todd and has three children, Emily, James and Natalie.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:York, Michael M. Living people 1953 births Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting winners American lawyers University of Kentucky alumni University of North Carolina School of Law alumni