Mike McAlary (December 15, 1957-December 25, 1998) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and columnist who worked at the New York Daily News for 12 years, beginning with the police beat.

In 1988, McAlary wrote a book, Buddy Boys, about corrupt police in New York's 77th Precinct. He also had a hand in writing the script for the movie Copland, starring Sylvester Stallone and Robert DeNiro. In the film The Paper directed by Ron Howard, a columnist character called McDougal played by Randy Quaid was said to be based on McAlary. He had a cameo appearance in the movie.

McAlary won a Pulitzer Prize for an exposé of the New York police torture of Abner Louima in Brooklyn in 1997.

His idols were New York journalists Jimmy Breslin, Murray Kempton and Pete Hamill. During his reporting of the Louima case, McAlary was diagnosed with colon cancer, from which he died on Christmas Day 1998. McAlary was a resident of Bellport, New York, at the time of his death.