WLRN was among several media outlets in South Florida honored Tuesday night at the prestigious Esserman-Knight Journalism Awards.
The occasion marked the sixth year of the awards and the fifth time WLRN has been honored.
"Once again, WLRN is extremely honored by recognition from the Esserman-Knight Journalism Award," said Sergio Bustos, Vice President for News at WLRN. "At a time when journalists are facing serious challenges to do their very public service work, it's gratifying to have the support of the Esserman family and Knight Foundation."
"At WLRN, we established an investigations team less than three years ago and are thrilled to be recognized for the kind of journalism we pride ourselves in doing," he added.
WLRN investigative journalists Danny Rivero and Josh Ceballos were awarded “honorable mention” for their stories revealing that Miami city manager Art Noriega had awarded over $440,000 in city contracts to his wife’s furniture company — including furnishings for his own city government office — without transparency, proper disclosure or ethical oversight.
“What began as a story about questionable procurement quickly expanded into a broader exposé of abuse of power, misrepresentation of public records and failure to guard against conflicts of interest,” wrote judges in honoring Ceballos and Rivero.
WLRN previously won an honorable mention at the Esserman-Knight Journalism Awards in 2020 and 2023 for reporting on a private takeover of a public school district and the podcast Detention by Design, about the history of immigration detention, respectively.
Esserman Family fund awards WLRN fellowship grant
WLRN won a second place prize in 2022 for the state politics podcast Tallahassee Takeover, and in 2024 WLRN won the top prize for a three-part investigation titled Unguarded, which looked into questionable real estate transactions and a government-funded nonprofit organization.
In a separate announcement Tuesday night, the Esserman Family Fund for Investigative Journalism said it is partnering with WLRN to fund a two-year fellowship to hire a science and health journalist reporter to cover a critical issue in the region.
The fund will provide financial support to WLRN for the next two years with the reporter’s stories online and on air to be shared with other media in South Florida.
2025 Esserman-Knight investigative journalism winners
This year’s top prize went to a group of Miami Herald journalists for their “Guilty of Grief” series, which delved into the systemic failures that led to the killing of a man in a mental health crisis by a Miami-Dade police officer and left his mom in legal trouble.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel was named the second place winner for a powerful series — “Born to die: Florida’s infant mortality crisis” — that examined in-depth Florida’s “rising infant mortality crisis, focusing on racial disparities, inadequate prenatal care and the consequences of the state’s refusal to expand Medicaid.” The series was authored by journalists Cindy Krischer Goodman and Carline Jean.
Two other Miami Herald series — “Key Biscayne’s Dark Secret” and “Deal with the Devil” — received honorable mentions in the categories of investigative and public service.
The other media outlet awarded “Honorable Mention” was the Real Deal’s investigation into allegations of sex trafficking by luxury real estate brokers Tal and Oren Alexander, as well as Oren’s twin brother, Alon. Reporters Katherine Kallergis, Sheridan Wall and Ellen Cranley contributed to the work.
“The Real Deal was the first to report on the allegations in June 2024, prompting federal and state investigations and criminal charges against the brothers and multiple indictments, now involving seven victims,” wrote the Esserman-Knight judges.
Honoring Alberto Ibargüen
Alberto Ibargüen, who was president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation from 2005-2024, was given the Esserman-Knight Excellence in Journalism Award, which recognizes exceptional leadership in the field.
As the former publisher of the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, he led both newspapers to national and international acclaim, including three Pulitzer Prizes and the Ortega y Gasset Prize for excellence in journalism.
Esserman-Knight officials then announced the award would now bear his name: the Alberto Ibargüen Excellence in Journalism Award.
Recipients of the Alberto Ibargüen Excellence in Journalism Award will have the opportunity to direct a $15,000 charitable contribution to support a philanthropic fund for local journalism or news outlet of their choice. The gift is made possible by a $250,000 grant to The Miami Foundation from the MacArthur Foundation.
