Bradenton Herald wins top Florida Press Club prize for coverage of COVID-19 pandemic
Bradenton Herald news staffers won five first place awards in the Florida Press Club’s 2020 Excellence in Journalism Competition, including a top prize for its coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. In all the newspaper was awarded 15 prizes in 12 categories during an online awards ceremony Saturday evening.
The Lucy Morgan Award for In-Depth Reporting in the Herald’s circulation class was shared by reporters Ryan Callihan and Jessica De Leon for stories about the pandemic’s impact in Bradenton and Manatee County. De Leon also received a second place prize in a separate writing category for reporting on COVID-19.
Several other winning entries featured coverage of the pandemic.
“We don’t do the work for the awards, but it is gratifying to see the news staff honored for their great work during this most difficult of years,” said Marc R. Masferrer, president and editor of the Herald. “The COVID-19 is the story of our lifetime, so it is especially neat to see Ryan, Jessica and the others to be recognized in this way with such a prestigious prize.”
Other first place prizes went to De Leon for public safety reporting for a story about a Bradenton police officer’s troubled past; and Callihan for reporting on minority news for stories on the history of Bradenton’s Confederate monument, the historic Angola community in Bradenton and the death of former Manatee County Commissioner Gwen Brown from COVID-19. De Leon and former reporter Sara Nealeigh shared a third place prize in the minority news category.
Reporter Giuseppe Sabella picked up two first place prizes, for community news writing for stories about the eviction of residents from a Bradenton mobile home park; and for environmental reporting for a story about climate change education in Manatee County and across the state. He also picked up a second place prize for education reporting, and he and De Leon shared a third place prize for public safety reporting.
Other second place prizes went to reporters Ryan Ballogg (arts news); and James A. Jones (business news and general news).
Receiving third place prizes were reporter Mark Young (general news); Visuals Editor Tiffany Tompkins (sports action photography); and Jones (serious features).
The awards recognize work published between June 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020.
Here is the complete list of winners from the Bradenton Herald:
Photography, Sports Action, Class A-C, third place, Tiffany Tompkins.
Special Awards, Lucy Morgan Award for In-Depth Reporting, Class B-C, first place, Ryan Callihan, Jessica De Leon.
Writing, Art News, Class A-C, second place, Ryan Ballogg.
Writing, Business News, Class B, second place, James A. Jones Jr.
Writing, Community News, Class A-B, first place, Giuseppe Sabella.
Writing, COVID-19, Class B, second place, Jessica De Leon, Bradenton Herald.
Writing, Education News, Class B, second place, Giuseppe Sabella, Bradenton Herald.
Writing Environmental News, Class B, first place, Giuseppe Sabella.F
Writing, General News, Class B, second place, James A. Jones Jr.
Writing, General News, Class B, third place, Mark Young.
Writing, Minority News, Class B, first place, Ryan Callihan
Writing, Minority News, Class B, third place, Jessica De Leon and Sara Nealeigh.
Writing, Public Safety, Class A-B, first place, Jessica De Leon
Writing, Public Safety, Class A-B, third place, Jessica De Leon and Giuseppe Sabella.
Writing, Serious Features, Class A-B, third place, James A. Jones. Jr.
This story was originally published December 19, 2020 at 10:18 PM.