Sun Sentinel wins journalism awards

including:

The South Florida Sun Sentinel won nine awards, including four first-place honors, in the national Society for Features Journalism Excellence-in-Features contest.

Much of the work recognized by SFJ judges captured the frustration of grieving parents and students in the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland on Feb. 14, 2018.

Mike Stocker, Doreen Christensen and Yiran Zhu won two first place awards for “Voices of Change,” a four-part video project featuring individuals most closely impacted by the violence. “The video testimonies, coming one after another, are extremely powerful,” contest judges said of the series.

Rod Stafford Hagwood won best arts and entertainment feature. “This engaging look at those involved in a South Florida production of ‘Spring Awakening’ – which features several Parkland shooting survivors – gets behind the headlines to offer a glimpse at how trauma can affect the making of art,” the judges said.

The team of Michael Mayo, Gretchen Day-Bryant and David Schutz won first place in digital innovation for the Let’s Eat, South Florida Facebook group, an online community of nearly 11,000 members discussing food and restaurants.

Below is the full list of reporters, videographers, columnists and editors cited by the Society for Features Journalism, now in its eighth decade of promoting “the craft of writing and innovation in lifestyle, arts and entertainment journalism.”

Arts and entertainment feature, First place: Rod Stafford Hagwood, “For Marjory Stoneman Douglas Drama Students, a ‘Spring Awakening’ Like No Other”

Features series or project, First place: Mike Stocker, Doreen Christensen and Yiran Zhu, “Voices of Change”

Diversity in digital features, First place: Mike Stocker, Doreen Christensen and Yiran Zhu, “Voices of Change”

Digital Innovation, First place: Michael Mayo, Gretchen Day-Bryant and David Schutz, Let’s Eat, South Florida Facebook Group

Best niche product, Second place: Mark Gauert, Anderson Greene and Staff, Prime

Best features digital presence, Third place: Gretchen Day-Bryant and Staff, SunSentinel.com/ GoingOut

General feature, Third place: Michael Mayo and Megan O’Matz, “For Families of Parkland Shooting Victims, Awful Truth Came After Hours of Waiting”

Integrated storytelling, Honorable mention: Mike Stocker, Doreen Christensen and Yiran Zhu, “Voices of Change”

Short feature, Honorable mention: Mark Gauert, “The Question I Asked Marjory Stoneman Douglas”