5 Palm Beach Post staffers win first place awards in Florida Press Club competition
Five staffers at The Palm Beach Post won first place awards at the Florida Press Club Excellence in Journalism competition announced Feb. 1.
The Palm Beach Post's first-place winning entries included work by Frank Cerabino for commentary writing (Class A-B), Katherine Kokal for education writing (Class A-B); Kimberly Miller for environmental writing (Class A); Wayne Washington for minority-news coverage (Class A); and Tom D'Angelo for sports writing (Class A).
Cerabino won the commentary category on the strength of his columns about the ancestry of Gov. Ron DeSantis, the surgeon general going "AntiChrist" on the COVID vaccine and new teachings on slavery.
Frank Cerabino: DeSantis' own immigration story conflicts with his opposition to "birthright citizenship"
Katherine Kokal's entries for the education beat award included the FHSAA removing menstrual questions on form after talking to DeSantis' office, the FHSAA board OKing form asking athletes for sex at birth and the schools chief apologizing for pulling AP Psych, says he can't risk teachers being arrested.
Kimberly Miller took first place in the environmental writing category with these stories: the weather patterns that caused a tornado in Palm Beach Gardens, oddball weather patterns that are worrisome this hurricane season and Rare Super El Niño possible this dry season.
Wayne Washington took the top prize for reporting on minority news coverage with stories about honoring rapper Kodak Black sparks tiff between Palm Beach County commission candidates and the revival of the Sunset Lounge, West Palm Beach's 1920s era dinner club.
Tom D'Angelo's sports writing included Brooks Koepka taking shots at LIV teammate Matthew Wood, Bernhard Langer and retiring from golf and Cognizant expected to become new title sponsor for old Honda Classic.
Post staff writer Mike Diamond won a second place award for government news (Class A). Third place winners at The Post in the Class A category include photo journalist Thomas Cordy in the feature photo essay category and Hannah Phillips for public safety writing.
Two Palm Beach Daily News writers also won top writing awards.
Staff writer Darrell Hofheinz, who regularly covers real estate and business, took home three first place honors in the statewide contest for community news writing, general news writing and business writing in the Class B circulation category.
M.M. Cloutier, a freelance writer who frequently contributes stories to the Daily News about island restaurants, hotels and history, won the first-place award in the Class B category for 'serious features.'
The press club is marking its 75th anniversary this year, having been founded as the Florida Women's Press Club. Since the 1950s, the press club has honored journalists with prizes in photography, writing and design.
The latest awards were presented Feb. 1 during a dinner at a Hilton hotel in Ocala.
Eligible entries were published or produced in Florida or transmitted from the state by a wire service between June 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024. The contest was open to traditional print media as well as online outlets.
The full list of winners is available at FloridaPressClub.org.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: 5 Palm Beach Post staffers earn first place Florida Press Club awards
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