Here's the lede from the Tampa Tribune story, picked up by the Associated Press, on the Sunshine State Awards that were given out to journalists this weekend. See if you can spot the problem.
The Associated Press Published: May 20, 2007MIAMI - The Tampa Tribune picked up five first-place awards Saturday night at the Florida SPJ Awards of Excellence contest, sponsored by the north central Florida chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Yeah, they got the chapter and the name of the awards wrong. Not sure if it was an AP mistake or if the Tribune typed it in. But apparently nobody wondered why the (smaller and less influential) north central Florida SPJ chapter hold its awards ceremony in
Deerfield Beach.
Anyway, here's a list of the winners, for what it's worth. We all know these things are a big arbitrary and comes down to the taste of whatever out-of-town journalist is looking at them. New Times, which was put in the small newspaper category (against its will) for the first time in many years, did fine and dandy, though, winning numerous awards (including three first places for excellent writers Julia Reischel and Wyatt Olson, who are both no longer with the paper). My government writing crown was absconded with this year by the Daily Business Review's Harris Meyer. It's an honor to come in second behind Meyer, who also used to work for NT and who runs the contest for SPJ ... wait a minute, he runs the contest?
Audit!
(No, the integrity of the well-deserving Meyer and the SPJ here in South Florida is not in dispute. But for those of you who missed it, there was a lot of drama this year regarding the "Katie" awards in Dallas. A reporter named Elizabeth Albanese turned the thing into a circus).
