Stories and photos on Haiti, UM sports, flooding win Herald newsrooms 20 awards
The Miami Herald, el Nuevo Herald and Bradenton Herald newsrooms scored a bouquet of honors in the Florida Society of News Editors awards for stories, photos and projects published in 2025.
Among the first place winners: A Pulitzer Center-supported “Floods of Trouble” series revealing critical information about the flooding history of communities and homes across Florida largely hidden from the public.
The Herald newsrooms won 10 first-place finishes among 20 honors for visuals, reporting and Spanish-language journalism.
“These awards reflect the kind of journalism we strive to deliver every day: deeply reported and meaningful to our community. What stands out is a common thread of persistence and impact. In a time when trust and clarity matter more than ever, this work shows why strong, independent local journalism is essential for our readers,” said Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald Executive Editor Alex Mena.
First-place winners
Here are the Herald newsrooms’ 10 first-place awards:
- Jacqueline Charles, for her authoritative beat coverage and her project, Haiti’s Lost Generation. The series detailed the alarming rise of Haiti’s gang-related sexual violence and how women and girls are disproportionately affected during a crisis that receives scant attention.
- Alex Harris and Susan Merriam for their “Floods of Trouble” series.
- Al Diaz, Matias Ocner and Pedro Portal in the photo story category, for their work covering Alligator Alcatraz. the immigration detention center in the Everglades.
- Al Diaz in sports photography for Miami Hurricane’s Malachi Toney scores.
- Matias Ocner for his Lil Abner Trailer Park work in spot news photography.
- David Goodhue in the breaking news video category, for capturing the anguish as a U.S. citizen is detained in the Florida Keys.
- Verónica Egui Brito for a collection of her work in Spanish-language news reporting for el Nuevo Herald.
- Jorge Ebro for a collection of his work in Spanish-language sports coverage for el Nuevo Herald.
- Jason Dill for sports coverage for the Bradenton Herald.
- Carter Weinhofer in community leadership, for his collaboration with Suncoast Searchlight on Manatee County schools misconduct.
Second- and third-place winners
- The Miami Herald team placed second in the investigative reporting category for the series Killer Train. The project was a collaboration between the Miami Herald and WLRN, South Florida’s NPR member station. The team revealed information about more than 190 people who had been killed in crashes with Brightline trains since 2017. The reporters: Brittany Wallman, Daniel Rivero, Joshua Ceballos, Aaron Leibowitz, Susan Merriam, Shradha Dinesh and Allison Beck.
- Matias Ocner placed third in spot news photography for his Everglades wildfire shots and third in feature photography for his Aquaplex photo.
- Max Klaver placed third in community leadership for his economic mobility package.
- Pedro Portal won second place in spot news photography for his photo of immigrants arrested in Coral Gables.
- Andre Fernandez and Michelle Kaufman won third place in the podcast category for the “Inside Inter Miami” podcast.
- Sarah Moreno placed second in features and entertainment writing and Sonio Osorio placed third in the category for their collections in el Nuevo Herald.
- Michael Moore of the Bradenton Herald was recognized in second place for his investigative work on the Manatee sheriff’s bar fight and second in community leadership for his look at illegal arcades, both in collaboration with Suncoast Searchlight.
Howard Cohen
Miami Herald