About Me

Riley Murdock is a reporter working from home in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Riley graduated from Michigan State University in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, and started working full-time in Saginaw later that year. Writing for a living makes it harder to write for fun, but poetry helps him stay grounded and process a never-stopping, ever-changing world. He has slowly learned to find inspiration in joy.

Riley lives with his fiancée Cristina and their fur babies, Moose and Salem. He is passionate about shelter cats, the Detroit Tigers, playing instruments (none well) and singing just a bit too loudly – even when he’s not sure that no one is listening. Riley's first book of poetry, lowercase aesthetic, is set for publication this November through Finishing Line Press. 

Riley previously interned with The Ann Arbor News, the Arizona Republic and the Reading Eagle, and spent my four years in college working for The State News, Michigan State's independent student newspaper. He has worked for MLive at the Saginaw News and Bay City Times  and was an insurance reporter with Law360, a national legal industry publication.

Some of his accolades include: 

• Covering the first and last days of Larry Nassar's Ingham County sentencing hearing
• Scoring a competitive Pulliam Fellowship reporting on a major city beat at the Arizona Republic
• Being named Best Writer in the weekly division by the Michigan Collegiate Press Association in 2018, as well as taking home the first place "Best News Story" award
• Winning a first place finish for News Enterprise Reporting at the 2021 Michigan Press Association awards.