Miami Herald wins prestigious Webby Award for ‘House of Cards,’ a 3D Surfside reconstruction
The Miami Herald and McClatchy, its parent company, won a Webby Award on Tuesday for “House of Cards,” an interactive, three-dimensional reconstruction of last year’s collapse of the Champlain Towers South beachfront condo in Surfside.
Sometimes called the “Oscars of the Internet,” the Webby Awards honor digital excellence. Webbys are bestowed by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.
“House of Cards” was voted the “People’s Voice Winner” in the Website and Mobile Sites category for Best Individual Editorial Feature/Media Company, which recognizes enhanced articles with “innovative interaction design components and multimedia storytelling elements.”
While Webby winners are selected by IADAS, the online public chooses People’s Voice winners by casting ballots for their favorite nominees.
“We are thrilled to have our work recognized by an organization as respected as the Webby Awards. This is especially significant for the Miami Herald and our journalists because it symbolizes the power and capabilities of local journalism,” said Monica Richardson, executive editor of the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald.
“Our team, working with other McClatchy journalists, set out to create an interactive experience for our audience that would help them better understand the magnitude of what occurred when the Champlain Towers South condominium collapsed in South Florida.
“This kind of unique journalism also builds even stronger trust and relationships among our community of readers and supporters,” she said. “It’s an honor to have the innovative efforts of the Miami Herald and McClatchy recognized by industry professionals and our peers.”
A total of 98 people died when a major portion of the 40-year-old tower fell on June 24, 2021. “House of Cards” depicted how decades of engineering and maintenance problems converged that night, resulting in the unthinkable.
SURFSIDE INVESTIGATION
House of Cards: How decades of problems converged the night Champlain Towers fell.
“House of Cards” was produced by a team of Sarah Blaskey, Sohail Al-Jamea, Eduardo M. Alvarez, Rachel Handley, David Newcomb, Aaron Albright, Aaron Leibowitz, Ben Conarck, Nicholas Nehamas and Ana Claudia Chacin. It was edited by Casey Frank, senior editor for investigations and enterprise, and Mary Behne.
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 5:53 PM.
Omar Rodríguez Ortiz
Miami Herald