7 Florida Times-Union journalists land Sunshine State Awards recognition

Florida Times-Union journalists won four Sunshine State Awards on Saturday and were runners-up in three more categories.

The awards, presented by the Florida Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, recognized the Times-Union's staff for its work in reporting, commentary and digital audience engagement.

Columnist Mark Woods won first place in the feature reporting category for his piece on the Surfside community's collective grief in the aftermath of the Champlain Towers South condo collapse.

Mark Woods' award-winning coverage: In Surfside, fallen condo is survived by a wounded community

Woods was also honored, along with Times-Union staff writer David Bauerlein and USA TODAY's Nada Hassanein, for best COVID-19 feature reporting for their one-day snapshot of life in Jacksonville when Florida was at the epicenter of the nation's COVID surge in August 2021. Woods, Bauerlein and Hassanein took readers behind the scenes at a local hospital, funeral home and Regeneron treatment center as those on the front lines of the pandemic response struggled to keep their heads above water amid record-high death totals.

With the front lines of COVID-19: A day of life and death in a COVID hotspot: Jacksonville

A pair of Times-Union columnists were cited for their commentary, with metro columnist Nate Monroe winning first place for general commentary and criticism and Gene Frenette taking top honors for sports commentary.

Staff writers Katherine Lewin and Clayton Freeman earned runner-up nods in beat reporting categories. Lewin was recognized for her reporting on Northeast Florida's underrepresented communities, including documenting unsanitary and unsafe conditions at Downtown East Apartments, while Freeman was commended for his high school sports coverage.

The newspaper's efforts to increase its reach on Instagram earned second-place plaudits in the new media engagement category. The initiative, led by education and youth culture reporter Emily Bloch, is seen as central to expanding the Times-Union's audience to include younger and more diverse readers.

In addition to the awards announced Saturday, the Times-Union staff won four Florida Society of News Editors journalism awards at the annual Florida Media Conference in Ponte Vedra Beach.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Sunshine State Awards: Florida Times-Union local journalism lauded