Tallahassee Democrat wins top awards for coverage of homelessness, elections, more
The Tallahassee Democrat is continuing a tradition of excellence in journalism with another awards haul, this year for its coverage of homelessness, helping voters navigate a bitter 2022 local election and a mass shooting in the capital city.
The Tallahassee Democrat took home more than two dozen awards in the 2023 contest cycle in marquee categories like investigative, breaking news, enterprise and public service. At Thursday's Florida Media Conference awards banquet in Sarasota, the Democrat news team won 14 first, second and third places in the Florida Society of News Editors annual contest.
A repeat winner through three different contests was a series on the plight of homeless families in Tallahassee, living in the shadow of the towering Capitol of the third largest state.
Democrat reporters Ana Goñi-Lessan and Chris Cann, along with photojournalist Alicia Devine, chronicled how the resources for those who experience homelessness have dried up; waitlists are long and those charged with helping feel powerless. The group put a face to the issue, spending months with those who are homeless and those working on the front lines to address a problem that gets worse by the day.
In particular, they offered a riveting and raw "day in the life" of a homeless family of six, who lived in a cramped 200 square foot motel room with their two dogs and three cats.
All told, the four-part series blended rich storytelling and a deep investigation that quantified and presented the scope of the problem. It offered a bleak assessment of what wasn't working and paired that up with a call to action that offered clear ways readers could help.
In the FSNE contest, the series notched a first place for enterprise reporting in Division B, a second place for community service and second place for photo story. It's also a finalist for the top award, the James Batten Award for Public Service, in the Sunshine State Awards, run by the Florida Society of Professional Journalists.
The Democrat's election coverage also earned multiple shout-outs from judges, including a first place in the FSNE contest.
One of the most notable awards of the contest cycle may be a first place in the coveted politics category from the SPJ’s Green Eyeshades contest, which pit the Democrat against much larger papers from across the Southeast.
The Democrat’s entry titled “Voting with Confidence” was a true staff effort and spanned the arc of its election coverage, ranging from an innovative partnership with WFSU and the League of Women Voters for streamed and televised debates to a print election guide that put the candidates head-to-head on the issues of the day.
The entry also included hard-hitting journalism, exposing dark money electioneering efforts and elected commissioners’ text messages from a pivotal meeting. All told, the news team's efforts generated more than 250 digital subscriptions.
"For more than a century, the Democrat team has been serving this community," Editor William Hatfield said. "It's gratifying to see that service continue in new ways. The news business has become ever more challenging with a deadline every minute, but these journalists continue to succeed in this business of changing lives."
The Tallahassee Democrat is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida, made up of 20 news operations across the state. The Network had a haul of it own at the media conference with 78 awards total and 30 first place awards.
The Democrat's sister papers, The Naples Daily News and Fort Myers News-Press, won the Gold Medal – the state's top prize for journalism – for their coverage of Hurricane Ian's devastation and recovery. Before that, the Democrat had won the Gold Medal, for four years in a row, a feat unparalleled in its 118 years of existence.
A complete list of awards won by the Democrat follows:
FSNE
Breaking News Reporting
Second Place: A Mass Shooting in the Capital City - Staff
Enterprise reporting
First Place: The Plight of Tallahassee Homeless Families - Ana Goñi-Lessan, Chris Cann, Alicia Devine & Karl Etters
Investigative
Third Place: The Fall of Ramon Alexander, a Democratic Rising Star - Jeff Burlew
Community Service
Second Place: The Plight of Tallahassee Homeless Families - Ana Goñi-Lessan, Chris Cann, Alicia Devine & Karl Etters
Beat Reporting
Second Place: Florida Government Beat Reporting - John Kennedy of the USA TODAY NETWORK FLORIDA and Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Sports
First Place: Turmoil in FAMU Athletics - Gerald Thomas and Tarah Jean
Page Design
First Place: Let the Games Begin - Ashleigh Hill
Second Place: Guilty: The Katherine Magbanua retrial - Ashleigh Hill
Feature Photography
Third Place: A Baptism by Football - Alicia Devine
Sports photography
First Place: Athletes in Action - Alicia Devine
Third Place: Sports photography: The Joy and Pain - Alicia Devine
Photo Story
Second Place: Day in the Life of a Homeless Family of Six - Alicia Devine
Multimedia
First Place: Voting with Confidence - Staff
Editorial Cartoon
First Place: The Editorial Cartooning of Nathan Archer - Nathan Archer
GREEN EYESHADE AWARDS
In the prestigious Green Eyeshade Awards, run by the Society of Professional Journalists, the Democrat also performed well. Competing against newspapers from around the Southeastern U.S., the Tallahassee Democrat and Alicia Devine won the Print Graphics Division for small and large newspapers for her work in sports photojournalism. In addition, the Democrat won the following awards:
Non-Deadline Reporting / Small Dailies
Second Place: The Plight of Homeless Families in Tallahassee - Ana Goñi-Lessan, Chris Cann, Alicia Devine & Karl Etters
Politics Reporting / All Dailies
First Place: Voting with confidence – Staff
Second Place: Zac Anderson Collection - Zac Anderson of the USA TODAY NETWORK FLORIDA and Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Public Service in Daily Journalism / All Dailies
Third Place: The Plight of Homeless Families in Tallahassee - Ana Goñi-Lessan, Chris Cann, Alicia Devine & Karl Etters
Sports Photography / Newspapers
First Place: Athletes in Motion - Alicia Devine
SUNSHINE STATE AWARDS
The Tallahassee Democrat is also a finalist for the most prestigious award and a number of categories in the Sunshine State Awards, organized by the Florida Society of Professional Journalists.
James Batten Award for Public Service: The Plight of Tallahassee Homeless Families - Ana Goñi-Lessan, Chris Cann, Alicia Devine & Karl Etters
Breaking News Reporting: A Mass Shooting in the Capital City - Staff
Series: The Plight of Tallahassee Homeless Families - Ana Goñi-Lessan, Chris Cann, Alicia Devine & Karl Etters
Election News Reporting: Blueprint on the Ballot - Jeff Burlew, Karl Etters & James Call
Editorial Cartooning: The Cartoons of Nathan Archer - Nathan Archer
Business Reporting: The Amazon Effect Series - USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida staff (contributing TaMaryn Waters)
Beat Reporting – Underrepresented Communities: The reporting of Ana Goñi-Lessan - Ana Goñi-Lessan
Beat Reporting - Government & Politics: The John Kennedy Collection - John Kennedy
Beat Reporting - Government & Politics: The Rise of Ron DeSantis - Zac Anderson
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee Democrat wins state, regional journalism awards
