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Sunshine State Shines On WLRN Coverage

WLRN once again rocked the state as judges of the annual Sunshine State awards recognized Florida journalists for excellent work in 2013. 

In the radio division, two of the three entries selected as finalists for Best Newscast belong to WLRN: Our coverage focused on theDemise ofDOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act) and the death of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. The latter included a spontaneous interview by anchor Kelley Mitchell with Miami Herald world news editor John Yearwood that provided perspective on what the event might mean to Venezuelans living here as well as in their country.

Sammy Mack, WLRN’s education reporter, is a finalist for Journalist of the Year. Her stories included a rewardinglook at the serious business of robot competition; a peek at heaven with science teachers witnessing a NASA launch; the scandal-prompted resignation of Education Commissioner Tony Bennett; the reason whyImmokalee parents promised to speak Spanishto their school-age children; and the impactful story of a high school originally named for a co-founder of theKKK. The school  was renamed after her reporting prompted change.  Earlier this year, Mack won first place in the Florida Associated Press Broadcasters' category recognizing individual achievement.

The rising tide of finalists lifted more spirits when the judges singled out veteran journalist Rick Stone for his insightful and practical explanation “Why Human Beings Aren’t Built to Grasp Climate Change” in the Feature Reporting category.  That story, and several others by WLRN reporters, were part of  “Elevation Zero”, a series of stories focusing on sea level rise in South Florida.  The series is a contender for best General Coverage. 

The Florida Roundup programthat explored whether the Department of Children and Families could be fixed, in the wake of both a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit and the deaths of several children, is a finalist in the Public Affairs category.  Vice president of news Tom Hudson hosts the popular Friday program deftly incorporating the views of a panel of journalists plus calls and online comments from listeners. The program is produced by Elaine Chen, senior producer of news and public affairs.

In the online division, WLRN again holds two of the three possible winning entries. This time it’s in the User-Generated Content category, which recognizes significant audience participation and engagement.   WLRN’s months-long approach to covering the 2013 Legislative Session was chosen in addition to “Remix the News: Dolphin Stadium Edition” with its fun mash-up of the Beastie Boys with the former CEO of the Miami Dolphins: Mike D, Meet Mike Dee. The winners are Terence Shepherd, Elaine Chen and the WLRN-Miami Herald News team.

Finalists were identified in early May. Category winners will be named this summer.

The Sunshine State awards competition is sponsored by the Florida chapter of Sigma Delta Chi, the Society for Professional Journalists.

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