The South Florida Black Journalists Association recently announced the winners of its Awards for Excellence contest and honored the winners of its Scholarships during its annual scholarship and awards luncheon June 11, at the Trump International Sonesta Beach Resort in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. The event was presented by CNN.
Keynote speakers for the event included Soledad O'Brien, co-anchor of CNN's American Morning and Dave Barry, the author and long-time humor columnist with The Miami Herald.
The Miami Herald won six awards of excellence, including two for reporting on the Arthur Teele suicide, the Miami New Times two top honors and three television stations received accolades. The awards are designed to highlight and encourage outstanding media coverage of South Florida's diverse black community. Winners were selected from more than 35 entries received. Judging was completed by the Baltimore affiliate chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.
Georgia East, SFBJA's contest chair and a staff writer at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, presented the awards. The SFBJA 2006 Awards for Excellence Winners are:
Photography/Breaking News: Roman Lyskowski, The Miami Herald, "Art Teele Suicide." On-the-spot photo at one of the year's biggest news events.
Photography/Feature: Charles Trainor Jr., The Miami Herald, "Antoine Allen." A compelling image of a Northwestern High School football linebacker.
Television/Feature: Quiana Burns, Julia Yarbough, Frank Adelson, Shawn Federline, WTVJ- NBC6, South Florida's Living Legacy. A time capsule on a forgotten era in South Florida. For younger viewers this may seem strange in the wake of Miami's mosaic culture.
Television Profile: Sharron Melton, WSVN- Fox 7, Principal Thelma Stinson. An educator's passion for children and for learning continued while Stinson was fighting cancer.
Television Enterprise: Jennifer Santiago, WFOR CBS4, Return to Haiti. The compelling story of two women and their challenge to stay in South Florida also included gripping footage from Haiti.
Newspaper/Breaking News: Staff, The Miami Herald, "Tragic End for Teele." Comprehensive, thorough, well-written and sensitive account of a breaking news event.
Newspaper/Business: Harriet Johnson Brackey, The Miami Herald, "The Common Esos." The report focused on a cultural tradition of the Haitian immigrant community and nonstandard ways of saving money, called Esos.
Newspaper/Community Impact: Staff, The Miami Herald, "Liberty City 25 Years Later." An entry that includes profiles, retrospectives and dreams of making the Liberty City section of Miami a better place to live and work, 25 years after the devastating Arthur McDuffie riots.
Newspaper/Enterprise: Rebecca Wakefield, Miami New Times, "In The Shadow of New Towers." A story of transition and transformation in Overtown, a Miami community being bombarded by pressure to change as the property values skyrocket out of reach of its traditional residents.
Newspaper/Features: Nancy Ancrum, The Miami Herald, "The Cultural Kitchen." Ancrum's, "The Cultural Kitchen" is sometimes historical, sometimes biographical as she weaves her culinary legacy of the African diaspora in South Florida.
Newspaper/Profile: Francisco Alvarado, Miami New Times, "Santa: A Man on the Street." This piece showed the various dimensions of a homeless man, who had a taste for hookers and was no fan of Miami Cops. The man also kept a shrine for a murdered child and performed numerous acts of kindness. A well-documented excellent piece of journalism.
Beverly Counts Rodrigues, director of media relations at Miami Dade College and a former president of the association, was the emcee for the event. The luncheon's entertainment was provided by Bemol, a South Florida-based smooth jazz ensemble.
"As our contest continues to grow, we would like to thank everyone who entered, because doing so sends a strong message that you take seriously your vow to cover every single community in this region," said Terence Shepherd, president of the South Florida Black Journalists Association.
SFBJA also introduced winners of its scholarships for the upcoming academic year. This year's Rochelle Bridges Memorial Scholarship winners are 2006 graduates Alexandra Gratereaux, Miami Beach High School, and Mikaela McIntosh, of Turner Tech High School in Northwest Miami-Dade County. Gratereaux will receive $1,500 to help defray costs when she enrolls at Long Island University. McIntosh, who plans to attend Valdosta State University in Georgia, will receive $1,000. The recipient of SFBJA's scholarship at Florida International University was Kenid Joseph. The junior broadcast journalism major will receive $1,000.
"The chapter plans on introducing more scholarships next year to help defray the skyrocketing cost of college at South Florida's other universities, including University of Miami, Florida Atlantic University, Broward Community College and Miami Dade College," Shepherd said.
The luncheon also featured a silent auction to help fund its scholarships. Sold to the highest bidders: a portrait of Grammy award winner Israel "Cachao" Lopez donated by Miami Herald photographer Carl Juste; an autographed Miami Heat basketball; and two pairs of passes to this year's American Black Film Festival, which will be held in Miami Beach.