LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Joan Krauter x jkrauter@bradenton.com
Each year, journalism organizations throughout the United States seek to recognize and celebrate excellence in journalism.
And Florida is blessed with a wealth of quality journalists, with some of the most competitive news organizations located here.
It's always awe-inspiring to see the strength and dedication of these journalists as their work is honored. This year has been no exception. The top two state journalism organizations just announced their winners, and the Bradenton Herald's journalists were again among the honorees. The Florida Society of Newspaper Journalists announced 11 awards for the Bradenton Herald, including three first-place honors.
In the Society of Professional Journalists' 14th annual Sunshine State Awards competition, the Herald garnered six awards, including two firsts.
We aren't in the business to win prizes, but the recognition comes as a strong reinforcement that we really can and do make a difference. I'd like to share a bit more about the recognized work here, with a glimpse at the first-place winners. With each award is a synopsis of our nomination letter, explaining why we were honored to have this work considered.
FSNE first-place awards
• In the category of Daily Deadline, the entire staff was honored for the Clay Moore kidnapping coverage. We wrote:
"The news flash came just after 9 a.m.: A 13-year-old boy had been abducted at gunpoint from a Manatee County school bus stop as more than a dozen other children looked on in horror. Within minutes, the Herald had a bulletin posted on Bradenton.com and reporters, photographers and editors in action. Within the hour, we had the boy's photo posted online, and staff tracking every tip with updates every 15 minutes.
"Almost five hours after the kidnapping, there was unbelievably good news: Clay Moore had been found, alive. The Herald's team of journalists captured the saga of a young boy's heroism and a community's response to a brazen criminal act. That team included Maura Possley, Stacey Eidson, Rebecca Blue, Robert Napper, Melanie Marquez, Sylvia Lim, Brian Neill, Natalie Alund, Grant Jefferies, Tiffany Tompkins-Condie, Brian Blanco and all the editors."
• For Beat Reporting, Education Reporter Sylvia Lim captured first place. We wrote:
"Lim has developed into a remarkable education reporter.
"An immigrant to this country, Lim brings an international perspective to the American public education system, especially the critical juncture where politics and policy meet. She is also a solid reporter, with a talent for researching the numbers behind the trends in education - and the eye for detail and writing skill that can bring those numbers to life for our readers.
"Consider the following:
"The No Child Left Behind series: Lim set out to bring this complex national issue into our local classrooms - a challenge for an issue so moribund in statistics and politics. Her series, with a mix of writing styles - anecdotal ledes, big picture ledes - managed to do that . . .
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