WUSF News and its Health News Florida project have been recognized with 12 awards by the Florida Associated Press Broadcasters organization, and three more from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) that recognizes outstanding achievement in electronic journalism.
WUSF News earned four first place awards form the AP for its 2015 coverage, including two from Assistant News Director Steve Newborn, and awards from reporters Susan Giles Wantuck and Robin Sussingham.
Sussingham also was awarded a regional Edward R. Murrow Award from the RTDNA. WUSF's Health News Florida project with WLRN in Miami and WMFE in Orlando also won two Murrows: as the best news website, and for a documentary on the health care gap uninsured Floridians face.
In the Florida AP contest, Newborn was recognized in the series category for his travels with the Florida Wildlife Corridor expedition team; and for a photo essay of his travels to Cuba with researchers looking into how the island nation continues to hunt endangered manatees as a food source. His story from Cuba also was recognized in the individual achievement category with a second place award.
Sussingham won first place in the AP general assignment long story category for her coverage of Florida’s lifting of a gay marriage ban. She attended outdoor weddings being held by the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court, just days after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the restriction in Florida and dozens of other states. Sussingham also won second place in the sports feature category.
The regional Murrow award for Sussingham also came for this story, which was broadcast in January 2015. The regional contest included journalists from Florida , Georgia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Wantuck, a reporter and host of WUSF News at noon, won first place in the general assignment category in the AP contest for a piece noting the passing of New York Times crossword master puzzle maker Merl Reagle, a Tampa resident.
WUSF News staffers Mark Schreiner, Lottie Watts, Carol Gentry, Daylina Miller, Mary Shedden and former intern Quincy Walters won second place awards in various categories.
The Health News Florida team won the top Florida AP award in the investigative news category, and earned second place honors for its series looking at the rising tide of HIV infection in Florida, and for its website: HealthNewsFlorida.org.
In the Murrow contest, Watts, Gentry, Miller and Shedden were all recognized for their work on the Health News Florida site. Shedden also was involved in editing part of the documentary winner in the Murrow contest.
This year, 32 broadcasters submitted 459 entries in the AP contest, which featured news, sports and weather reporting as well as features and photography from 2015. WUSF News competed in the Large Radio division.
The Associated Press award winners include:
Breaking News
First place: Staff, WLRN News, Miami, "Listen: Florida's First 15 Hours of Same Sex Marriage"
Second place: WOKV News Team, WOKV-FM, Jacksonville, "Belleza Condo Fire"
Breaking News Long Format
First place: WOKV News Team, WOKV-FM, Jacksonville, "The Disappearance of Lonzie Barton"
Second place: Tony Marino and Heather Matthews, News 96.5 WDBO, Orlando, "Special Report-Paris Attacks"
Continuing Coverage
First place: Nadege Green, WLRN News, Miami, "Lavalle Hall Coverage by Nadege Green"
Second place: Ryan Benk, Cyd Hoskinson, Jessica Palombo, WJCT-FM, Jacksonville, "El Faro Cargo Ship Sinks"
Cultural/Historical Feature
First place: Julia Duba, Kenny Malone, Alicia Zuckerman, WLRN News, Miami, "South Florida's Graffiti Problem in the '90s Had an Emblem: Crook Crome"
Second place: Renata Sago, WMFE-FM, Orlando, "Vietnamese Vets Still Fighting the War"
General Assignment
First place: Susan Giles Wantuck, WUSF-FM, Tampa, "At a Loss for Words: The Puzzle Genius of Merl Reagle"
Second place: Sammy Mack, WLRN News, Miami, "Farmers Ask for a State of Emergency as Crops Drown in the Field"
General Assignment Long Format
First place: Robin Sussingham, WUSF-FM, Tampa, "Wedding Bells Ring for Same-Sex Couples "
Second place: WOKV News Team, WOKV-FM, Jacksonville, "Orange Park Terror Suspect"
Hard News Feature
First place: Nadege Green, WLRN News, Miami, "Witnesses: Mentally Ill Man Did Not Have a Broomstick When Miami Gardens Police Killed Him"
Second place: Mark Schreiner, WUSF-FM, Tampa, "University Beat: Dozier Update"
Individual Achievement Multi-Stories
First place: Darrell Moody, News 96.5 WDBO, Orlando, "Missing Cobra/Travel Alert OIA/Orlando Election Day"
Second place: Wilson Sayre, WLRN News, Miami, "Wilson Sayre Reports for WLRN News"
Individual Achievement Single Story
First place: Julia Duba, WLRN News, Miami, "South Florida's Graffiti Problem in the '90s Had an Emblem: Crook Crome"
Second place: Steve Newborn, WUSF-FM, Tampa, "Giving Cuban Manatees a Fighting Chance"
Investigative
First place: Tristram Korten, FCIR, Alicia Zuckerman, WLRN News, Miami, "Florida Officials Ban the Term Climate Change"
Second place: Stephanie Brown, WOKV-FM, Jacksonville, "Department of Juvenile Justice Investigation"
Light Feature
First place: Luis Hernandez, WLRN News, Miami, "What Conducting a Video Game Concert Sounds Like"
Second place: Daylina Miller, WUSF-FM, Tampa, "Whovian Singles Night: Just What The Doctor Ordered"
Overall
First place: WOKV News Team, WOKV-FM, Jacksonville, "The Best of WOKV in 2015"
Second place: Staff, WLRN News, Miami, "WLRN News Coverage Throughout 2015"
Photo Essay
First place: Steve Newborn, WUSF-FM, Tampa, "Cuba Postcard: 'Expect the Unexpected'"
Second place: Tom Hudson, WLRN News, Miami, "A Look Inside the Plane Flying Key West to Havana"
Public Affairs
First place: Wilson Sayre, Daniel Chang, Sammy Mack, WLRN-Miami Herald News, Health News Florida, "Falling Into the Gap: Florida's Health Care Coverage Gap"
Second place: Matthew Peddie and Brendan Byrne, WMFE-FM, Orlando, "Intersection: Parramore"
Radio Newscast up to 15 minutes
First place: Staff, News 96.5 WDBO, Orlando, "Orlando's Morning News with Joe Kelley"
Second place: WOKV News Team, WOKV-FM, Jacksonville, "Jacksonville's Morning News"
Radio Newscast up to 5 minutes
First place: Christine DiMattei, WLRN News, Miami, "WLRN News with Christine DiMattei"
Second place: Michelle Corum and Ryan Benk, WJCT-FM, Jacksonville, "WJCT Newscast 8-27-15"
Series Reporting
First place: Steve Newborn, WUSF-FM, Tampa, "Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition"
Second place: Health News Florida Staff from WUSF, WLRN and WMFE, WUSF-FM, Tampa, "HIV in Florida: The Rising Tide of Infection"
Sports Feature
First place: Tim Padgett, WLRN NEWS, Miami, "Shark Attack on the Beach! Footvolley's Popularity Taking off in Florida, the U.S."
Second place: Robin Sussingham, WUSF-FM, Tampa, "From Phosphate Mine to Golf Resort: Streamsong"
Sportscast
First place: Tony Marino, ESPN 580 WDBO, Orlando, "ESPN 580 Sportscast"
Second place: Jay Gray, WOKV-FM, Jacksonville, "Shake Up in College Football"
Use of Sound for Radio
First place: Tom Hudson, WLRN News, Miami, "The Sunshine Economy: Training Tomorrow's Aviation Workers"
Second place: Quincy Walters, WUSF-FM, Tampa, "Soundscapes Inspired by Park's Landscapes"
Weather Reporting
First place: Julia Duba, WLRN News, Miami, "Too Young for Andrew, I Learned Fear From Hurricane Wilma"
Second place: Nancy Klingener, WLRN News, Miami, "For The Florida Keys, Wilma Brought Water"
Weathercast
First place: WOKV News Team, WOKV-FM, Jacksonville, "April Tornado Warnings"
Website
First place: WOKV News Team, WOKV-FM, Jacksonville, "WOKV.COM"
Second place: Health News Florida Staff from WUSF, WLRN and WMFE, WUSF-FM, Tampa, "Health News Florida"
