WLRN News received 13 awards at the 2018 edition of the Florida Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists' Sunshine State Awards.
The Sunshine State Awards recognize quality journalism in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands for the calendar year of 2017. Out-of-state journalists judge all entries.
At a ceremony celebrated at the University of Miami on Aug. 4, WLRN was recognized in three special categories: Kate Stein was honored as Outstanding New Journalist, Nancy Klingener was a finalist for Journalist of the Year and the whole WLRN News staff was a finalist in a new category: Disaster Reporting.
WLRN News was also awarded prizes in the following categories:
First place awards:
- Best Newscast: WLRN News – Christine DiMattei, Tim Padgett, Kate Stein & WLRN News Staff, WLRN News Covers the Fort Lauderdale Airport Shooting
- General Coverage: Peter Haden, Sunny Daze: Inside South Florida’s Opioid Crisis
- Investigative Reporting: Sammy Mack, Rowan Moore Gerety, Nadege Green & Alicia Zuckerman, Young Survivors: The Unspoken Trauma Of Gun Violence
- Government & Politics Reporting: Wilson Sayre & Alicia Zuckerman, Cell 1: Florida’s Death Penalty In Limbo
- Multimedia Feature: Teresa Frontado, Mihail Halatchev & WLRN News Staff, Young Survivors: The Unspoken Trauma Of Gun Violence Digital Treatment
- Social Media Package: Teresa Frontado, Katie Lepri & WLRN News Staff, WLRN News Digital Projects
Second place awards:
- Public Affairs: The Florida Roundup, How Is The #MeToo Movement Translating Across Cultures In South Florida?
- News Website: Teresa Frontado & WLRN News Staff, WLRN
- Online Breaking News: Teresa Frontado, Katie Lepri & WLRN News Staff, Surviving Hurricane Irma
A finalist among students in the Best Feature category was former WLRN intern Allison Light, for her report, Miami Curves Week+ Celebrates Plus-Sized Fashion.
