Miami Herald’s Surfside investigation, ‘House of Cards,’ wins 3 global media awards
The Miami Herald’s forensic investigation into the collapse of Surfside’s Champlain Towers South, “House of Cards,” won three awards from the International News Media Association, including the top honor, Global Best in Show, in a virtual presentation from Kingston, Jamaica, on Thursday.
In addition to the global award, “House of Cards” won Best in Show among regional contenders and Best Use of Visual Journalism and Storytelling Tools among regional brands.
In the latter regional category, the Herald bested entries from Colombia, Mexico, Germany, Austria and Newsday’s “Policing on Long Island” feature.
“The Miami Herald’s ‘House of Cards’ entry is a meticulous journalistic investigation of the Champlain Towers South collapse and the multimedia representation of the investigation, which involved witness testimonials of the tragedy, construction experts and consulting engineers to dig into the causes of the construction’s weaknesses,” INMA said in presenting the event’s Global prize.
Judging for the INMA awards, which honor innovation and excellence in growing audience, brand, and revenue, was held in February. Fifty media experts from 24 countries weighed 922 entries from 262 news brands in 44 countries.
Judges winnowed the submissions down to 332 finalists in 20 categories that including news brands, media platforms, subscriptions, advertising, data and insights, product and newsrooms.
The “House of Cards” coverage team, made up of Sarah Blaskey, Ben Conarck, Aaron Leibowitz, Eddie Alvarez, Sohail Al-Jamea, David Newcomb and Rachel Handley, spent months investigating reams of data to explain to readers what led to the Champlain Towers South collapse.
“The Miami Herald and McClatchy team is honored to receive such a prestigious award and I am extremely proud to see the work of our newsroom recognized for its impact,” said Monica Richardson, executive editor of the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald.
“This achievement, among other recent awards, demonstrates our strength and ability to be innovative and creative in our storytelling and it affirms our position as a leading local news organization in the country. Ultimately, local journalism is a necessity and an essential force in our democracy,” Richardson said.
On June 1, “House of Cards” also won the Esserman-Knight Journalism Award.
On April 26, “House of Cards” won a Webby Award — often dubbed the “Oscars of the Internet” — as a People’s Voice Winner in the Website and Mobile Sites category for its innovative interaction design components and multimedia storytelling elements.
The broader investigative coverage, led by Nicholas Nehamas, Blaskey, Conarck and Leibowitz — which included the interactive — also won the Sidney Award in February.
READ MORE: Miami Herald breaking news, investigative projects have won several awards
The coverage featured a three-dimensional, interactive breakdown of the tragic collapse on June 24, 2021. “House of Cards” aimed to illuminate what happened that night by detailing how a localized collapse that began in the pool deck area progressed into the tower, killing 98 people.
“Embedded in the power of local journalism is the vital role that it plays in both educating and building community. ‘House of Cards’ educated our readers and presented answers to a community that was, and is still, hurting and seeking closure. Our journalists, as the seekers of truth and accountability, are working to ensure that a tragedy like this never happens again,” Richardson said.
INMA also said its jury of judges praised the Herald’s “House of Cards” as “a mind blowing entry, very good journalistic work, brilliant use of imagery, video and small text chunks to tell a grim but fascinating thing. This was journalism at its best.”
The Herald’s other coverage of the Surfside condo’s collapse won major honors this year, too. The Miami Herald scored its 23rd Pulitzer Prize on May 9, when it was awarded the top prize in the Breaking News category that judges how a news organization covers a major news event.
This story was originally published June 9, 2022 at 12:08 PM.
