Melvin L. Claxton (born 1958) is an American journalist, author, and entrepreneur. He has written about 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 The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...

and its links to the region's crime rate. His series earned the ''

Virgin Islands Daily News The ''Virgin Islands Daily News'' is a daily newspaper in the United States Virgin Islands headquartered on the island of Saint Thomas. In 1995 the newspaper became one of the smallest ever to win journalism's most prestigious award, the Pulitz ...

'' the

Pulitzer Prize for Public Service The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journali ...

in 1995. Another series by Claxton, this time on the criminal justice system in Detroit, was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2003. Claxton has won a number of national reporting awards and his work has been honored several times by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

managing editors. He is the founder and CEO of Epic 4D, an educational video game company.

Career

Claxton began his journalism career at ''

The Virgin Islands Daily News The ''Virgin Islands Daily News'' is a daily newspaper in the United States Virgin Islands headquartered on the island of Saint Thomas. In 1995 the newspaper became one of the smallest ever to win journalism's most prestigious award, the Pulitz ...

'' as an intern in 1983 while majoring in economics and journalism at the

University of the Virgin Islands The University of the Virgin Islands (or UVI) is a public historically black land-grant university in the United States Virgin Islands. History UVI was founded as the College of the Virgin Islands on March 16, 1962. In 1986, it officially becam ...

. Two years later, he became the newspaper's seventh full-time reporter. He went on to hold senior investigative reporting positions at ''

The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN radio and WGN tel ...

'', ''

The Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United S ...

'', and ''

The Tennessean ''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, w ...

''. 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 A police commissioner is the head of a police department, responsible for overseeing its operations and ensuring the effective enforcement of laws and maintenance of public order. They develop and implement policies, manage budgets, and coordinate ...

and

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

were appointed and a narcotics official resigned. In 1995, the series was awarded the

. 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."

Career timeline

* 2013–present: CEO Epic 4D LLC * 2010–2013: Senior managing partner, Premier 3D Animation * 2005–2007: Senior investigative reporter, ''The Tennessean'' * 1998–2005: Senior investigative reporter, ''The Detroit News'' * 1997–1998: Investigative reporter, Chicago Tribune Media Group * 1994–1997: Reporter, ''Virgin Islands Daily News'', St. Croix, Virgin Islands.

Publications

Books

* ''Uncommon Valor: A Story of Race, Patriotism, and Glory in the Final Battles of the Civil War'' (2006). Melvin Claxton and Mark Puls. Wiley publishers, . * ''The Book Of Love''. (2009). Melvin Claxton, Ira Claxton. BookSurge, .

Notable articles

* "Public Housing/Public Shame" (1983). Melvin Claxton. Virgin Islands Daily News. * "Virgin Islands crime: who's to blame?" (1995). Melvin Claxton. Virgin Islands Daily News * "Fire Sale: America’s unchecked gun market" (December 1997). Melvin Claxton and William Gaines. Chicago Tribune. * "The government bought or manufactured millions of firearms..." (December 1997). William Gaines and Melvin Claxton. * "Detroit Fire Department: Out of Service" (2000). Melvin Claxton and Charles Hunt. * "Hiding in Plain View" (2002). Melvin Claxton, Norman Sinclair and Ronald Hansen. Detroit News. * "The Cost of Murder" (2006). Tennessean, Nashville, TN. * "Sexual abuse behind bars" (February 2008).

Awards and recognition

(1995) * Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for print journalism (1997) *

Managing Editors Public Service Award * Michigan Associated Press awards (best overall story, best public service effort) 2000 *

Investigative Reporters and Editors Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. (IRE) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on improving the quality of journalism, in particular investigative journalism. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences a ...

Award *

Benjamin Fine Benjamin Fine (September 1, 1905May 16, 1975) was an American journalist and writer. He worked at ''The New York Times'' from 1938 to 1958. Fine was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, and died while on vacation in Busan, South Korea. Biography ...

Award * Al Nakula Award (1995) *

Scripps Howard The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglom ...

Public Service Journalism award (''Virgin Islands Daily News'') * Finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2003

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Claxton, Melvin 1958 births Living people 21st-century African-American writers African-American journalists American male journalists American male non-fiction writers Antigua and Barbuda writers University of the Virgin Islands alumni Antigua and Barbuda emigrants to the United States Virgin Islands 20th-century African-American people