WLRN, CBS News Miami clinch top prizes at the 2024 Esserman-Knight Journalism Awards
Journalists with WLRN and CBS News Miami clinched top honors for investigative and public service reporting at the annual Esserman-Knight Journalism Awards Thursday.
The Esserman-Knight Journalism Awards, now in their fifth year, were created to highlight excellence in South Florida journalism. WLRN and CBS News Miami — both Miami Herald news partners — were commended for their work.
Two Miami Herald projects also received honorable mentions.
“Shakedown City,” an investigation into corruption in the City of Miami, uncovered that Mayor Francis Suarez secretly received payments from a developer and juggled 13 side jobs. It was reported by Sarah Blaskey, Joey Flechas, Tess Riski, Jay Weaver and Susan Merriam.
READ MORE: Shakedown City: Investigations, lawsuits and the anatomy of Miami’s political scandals
In “Warehouses for Children,” the Miami Herald’s Carol Marbin Miller explored the state’s long-standing failure to provide adequate care to children with complex medical needs, which has resulted in the “tragic” and illegal warehousing of fragile children in institutions.
READ MORE: In stinging rebuke, judge orders Florida to stop funneling frail kids into nursing homes
Jim Brady, the vice president of journalism at Knight Foundation, told the Miami Herald that this year’s winners reflect a wide array of storytelling methods, which is “impressive and important” given how people follow the news in different ways.
“It shows the diversity of storytelling,” Brady said. “For a long time, these type of awards were primarily won by newspapers.”
For Brady, the award-winning reporting demonstrated the caliber of stories that are out in South Florida but remain untold. That’s why Knight Foundation has explored ways to empower local reporters.
“Sometimes you don’t really realize what reporting means until you don’t have it anymore,” Brady said. “It’s incumbent for people... to realize that there are so many other stories that don’t get told because of the reduction of journalists in South Florida now.”
Here’s a look at the rest of the award-winning reporting.
List of winners
▪ First place ($10,000): WLRN journalists Daniel Rivero and Joshua Ceballos for their work on “Unguarded,” which exposed how a nonprofit has sold the properties of those under their care to a Miami real estate agent.
▪ Second place ($5,000): CBS News Miami’s Jim DeFede for “Warehouse: The Life and Death of Tristin Murphy,” a documentary exploring the treatment of the mentally ill in the criminal justice system through the suicide of 37-year-old Tristin Murphy.
▪ Honorable mention ($1,000): Prism Reports’ Alexandra Martinez for “Digging for the Truth: Concerns Arise at a Tequesta Archaeological Site,” which delved into workers’ health and safety concerns at an ancient Tequesta site.
▪ Honorable mention ($1,000): Bob Norman and Grace Tillyard, reporters with the Florida Trident, for “Sacred Scheme: How Florida Taxpayers Fund A Christian Campaign Aimed At Pregnant Women,” a story exposing how taxpayer money for crisis pregnancy centers is going to Christian ministries.
▪ Special citation: PBS Director Katja Esson for ”Razing Liberty Square,” a documentary focused on how Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood is becoming ground zero for climate gentrification.
