Sun Sentinel reporter honored with prestigious Florida journalism award
Veteran South Florida Sun Sentinel investigation reporter and editor Brittany Wallman has won one of the most prestigious awards in Florida journalism, among a half-dozen honors for the newspaper staff in the 2022 Florida Society of News Editors journalism contest.
Wallman is a winner of the Paul Hansell Award for Distinguished Achievement in Florida Journalism, which recognizes overall excellence in reporting and the “sum of a writer’s work, its range and diversity.” She shares the 2022 award with the Miami Herald’s Linda Robertson.
Wallman was cited for a portfolio of work that included an investigation into the disproportionate use of police dogs on black youth (The Hunted), stories on the lax enforcement of safety regulations at South Florida condos, as well as an in-depth look at the powerful law firm Becker & Poliakoff, called the “nemesis” of condo safety reformers.
The FSNE awards were presented on Thursday during the 2022 Florida Media Conference at the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa in Ponte Vedra.
Other Sun Sentinel FSNE award winners include education reporter Scott Travis, who won the first-place Beat Reporting award for his coverage of a tumultuous year in South Florida schools, including the ouster of Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie.
The first-place award in the Spot News Photography category went to the Sun Sentinel’s Mike Stocker for his gripping images of firefighters rescuing two men dangling 70 feet in the air from the side of a Hallandale Beach condominium after a scaffold broke.
The newspaper’s photographer staff won first place in the Photo Story category for pictures taken during the search for survivors at the collapse of Champlain Towers South condo in Surfside. Sun Sentinel photographer Amy Beth Bennett took third place in the category for coverage of the Parkland shooter trial.
The staff of the Sun Sentinel’s City & Shore magazine took second place in the competition for best niche site or app for its edition Explore Florida & the Caribbean.
The FSNE awards are given to first-, second- and third-place winners; the Miami Herald received 18 awards, the Orlando Sentinel nine.
On Friday at the Florida Media Conference, the Florida Magazine Association will announce winners of the Charlie Awards. City & Shore and Explore Florida & the Caribbean magazines are finalists in two categories, while editor Mark Gauert is a finalist in two writing categories.
Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com.
