The inaugural Esserman-Knight Journalism Prize honors several local news organizations including WLRN News, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Univision and the Miami Herald. The Herald's Emily Michot and Julie K. Brown are the inaugural winners of the prize.
WLRN News, the Sun Sentinel, Univision and the Herald received runner-up and honorable mention honors as part of the first-time prize. The news organizations will share an $18,000 award which is part of a larger $2.5 million investment that Ron and Charlene Esserman – and their children Jim, Susan, Lisa and Laura – made in local journalism in February, in partnership with Knight Foundation, which is supporting the administration of the prize.
The winners will be celebrated during an online ceremony Thursday, June 18, that will also include the presentation of the Esserman-Knight Excellence in Journalism prize to Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron, for his distinguished service in journalism. You can register here for the event.
The honors are for the following projects:
Winner:
Julie K. Brown and Emily Michot of the Miami Herald for "Perversion of Justice"
Runner-up:
Megan O’Matz, Brittany Wallman and Aric Chokey of the Sun Sentinel for “Teenage Time Bombs: A Generation in Danger”
Honorable Mentions:
Reporter Jessica Bakeman and editors Alicia Zuckerman and Teresa Frontado of WLRN News for “Chartered: Florida's First Private Takeover Of a Public School System”
Erika Carrillo and Maria Alesia Sosa of WLTV Univision Miami and USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, for “Paradise of Beauty and Death”
Fabiola Santiago of The Miami Herald for “Perspectives on South Florida”
