Marla Drutz, vice president and general manager of WDIV Local 4/ClickOnDetroit, received the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. Drutz was presented the award on Aug. 22 during the MAB Advocacy Conference and Annual Meeting.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is given each year to a leader who has demonstrated decades of superior work in the broadcast industry.
“Marla is an incredibly passionate, determined leader with this incredibly high moral compass and ethical standard. Marla is inherently a local broadcaster who loves and eats and breathes everything about living in a local market. She is huge motivator to the people she works with. She’s a motivator to me,” said Emily Barr, President and CEO of Graham Media Group, WDIV-Local 4’s parent company. “There’s really a lot to admire about Marla Drutz. She really is one-of-a-kind.”
Drutz has held her current position since July 28, 2008. Under her leadership, WDIV-Local 4 has strengthened its dominance both on-air and online. The station has the top-rated/most watched newscasts and ClickOnDetroit is Metro Detroit’s number one television website. Drutz has also bolstered a strong commitment to outstanding community service. The station has also been awarded the prestigious “Service to America” award in 2011 and 2017 from the National Association of Broadcasters.
Prior to joining WDIV, Drutz worked at WXYZ-TV as the Director of Programming. Earlier in her career, she was the Marketing Director at WJBK-TV. Drutz began her career as a research analyst at WJW in Cleveland.
A graduate of Leadership Detroit XIII, Drutz is a member of the NBC Affiliate Board of Directors, the National Association of Television Program Executives (NAPTE) and The Adcraft Club of Detroit. She serves on the executive board of the Michigan Chapter of the International Women’s Forum and is a board member of The United Way, The Detroit Convention and Visitors Bureau, New Detroit and Oakland Family Services.