Awards

Caplin News has won many national and regional prizes including the prestigious Hearst Award for breaking news and the EPPY, given by Editor and Publisher magazine, for best community/niche website.

2025

Florida Society of News Editors

Natalie La Roche Pietri
Enterprise Writing – 1st place
“Two Palestinian brothers lost everything in Gaza. A nonprofit brought them to the U.S. to heal”

Kayla Marie
Commentary – 1st place
“America’s Checkbook: Financing Israel’s Military Dominance”

Carlton Gillespie
Sports – 1st place
“This Brit discovered the Miami Marlins. Now his podcast reaches across the ocean.”

Brianna Arias
Sports – 3rd place
“At age 19, Key Biscayne’s Cremaschi living a dream with Inter Miami”

Olivia Guthrie
Multimedia – 1st place
 “One night in Miami — a deeper look at the racial history of the Magic City”

Ivanna Hilewsky, Benjamin Cure, Jason Harrow
Multimedia – 2nd place
“Ripple Effect C08.”

Dawn Boothe, Luz Gonzalez, Paola Sirignano, Stefanny Tenia
Photography – 3rd place
“Deadly Cost: How an event honors victims of drunk driving crashes”

Benjamin Cure, Jason Harrow, Ivanna Hilewsky
Video Storytelling – 2nd place
“Ripple Effect: How pollution threatens South Florida’s waters and communities”

Alejandro Sanchez, Carlos Fernando Tinoco Guzman
News Reporting – 2nd place
“Darién: 2 caras de la crisis migratoria”

Maria Teresa Lopez Rodriguez, Jazmine Santillana
News Reporting – 3rd place
“Habana Sax renació en los escenarios de FIU” 

Victoria Claria
Sports – 2nd place
“Messi en Miami: Redefiniendo el juego”

Patricia Varas Chong
Features & Enterprise- 3rd place
“Inmigrante haitianos, peligro para EE.UU.: falsedades que nunca acaban de morir”

Voces del Periodismo

Benjamin Cure, Jason Harrow, Ivanna Hilewsky
Best Audio Story – 1st place
“Ripple Effect”

Dawn Boothe, Luz Gonzalez, Paola Sirignano and Stefanny Tenia
Best Audio Story – 3rd place
“Deadly Cost: The Burden of Driving Drunk”

Olivia Guthrie
Best Investigative Story – 2nd place
“One night in Miami — a deeper look at the racial history of the Magic City”

Lorena Cespedes González
Best Investigative Story – 3rd place
“Rehabilitación en lugar de encarcelamiento en Miami-Dade”

Luz Gonzalez
Best Photo Slideshow – 1st place
“Economic Hardship”

Dawn Boothe, Luz Gonzalez, Paola Sirignano and Stefanny Tenia
Best Photo Slideshow – 3rd place
“Deadly Cost: How an event honors victims of drunk driving crashes”

Sofia Lense, Carla Mendez, Jacqueline Pecker, Isabel Rivera, Bautista Samperi
Best Video Story – 2nd place
“After Pro-Palestine demonstrations, Spanish university removes student tents”

Mauro Rueda
Best Video Story – 3rd place
“Luminosa: El festival de luces regresa a Miami”

Valentina Gaspari and Esteban Rodriguez 
Best Video Story 2– 2nd place
“New spring break measures impact a small business owner on South Beach”

Ivanna Hilewsky and Benjamin Cure 
Best Video Story 2– 3rd place
“Five years later: Students still struggle with the lasting impact of COVID 19 on their education”

Carla Mendez 
Best Written News Story– 1st place
“Miami homeless in limbo after public sleeping law takesy effect, fear arrest and jail”

Natalie La Roche Pietri 
Best Written News Story– 2nd place
“Two Palestinian brothers lost everything in Gaza. A nonprofit brought them to the U.S. to heal”

Mauro Rueda and Brianna Arias
Best Written News Story – Honorable Mention
“Survivor of unimaginable trauma and homelessness builds a nonprofit to help others”

Enrique Bertran, Carlos Fernando Tinoco Guzman and Patricia Varas Chong
Best Written News Story – Honorable Mention
“Un adiós forzado en Sweetwater”

Beverly R. Muzii
Best Written Feature Story – 3rd place
“Bearing Witness to ‘A Beautiful Struggle’: Photojournalist Alon Skuy’s work in post-Apartheid South Africa” 

Alejandro Sánchez and María Teresa López Rodríguez
Best Visual Feature Story – 3rd place
“Te Busco: quiénes son las madres buscadoras y qué le piden al nuevo gobierno de México”

Stefanny Tenia
Best Visual Feature Story – 3rd place
“Taller de “Gelli paint” reúne amantes del arte en Doral” 

Dawn Boothe, Luz Gonzalez, Paola Sirignano and Stefanny Tenia
Best Documentary – 1st place
“Deadly Cost: The consequences of drunk driving” 

Illary Centeno, Lina Lozano and Giannina Rosales Chong
Best Documentary – 3rd place
“Medical tourism: Seeking treatment outside the U.S.”

Eppy Awards

Kayla Marie
Best News Story on a College/ University Website – 1st place
America’s Checkbook: Financing Israel’s Military Dominance

Hearst Journalism Awards

Natalie La Roche Pietri
Feature – 2nd place
Two Palestinian brothers lost everything in Gaza. A nonprofit brought them to the U.S. to heal

Ivanna Hilewsky, Benjamin Cure, Jason Harrow
Podcast – 15th place
Ripple Effect: Water pollution in South Florida waterways (includes audio story)

Student Production Awards – Suncoast Chapter

Benjamin Cure, Jason Harrow, Ivanna Hilewsky
Hard News Report – Winner
Ripple Effect: How pollution threatens South Florida’s waters and communities

Benjamin Cure
Arts/Entertainment/Cultural Affairs – Winner
Cancer survivor and community pillar — the story behind Apocalypse BBQ

Samantha Gutierrez, Grecia Pacheco, Anthony Cruz
Promotional Video – Winner
FIU in DC Fall 2024

Sabrina Alfonso, Benjamin Cure
Commercial – Winner
Brighter Futures Start Here: Supporting Miami-Dade Schools with Holsen

2024

Sunshine State Awards

Jeronimo Mura and Pamela Correa
Mejor trabajo estudiantil (todo tipo de medios) – 1st place
Bateyes Dominicanos: ¿Cómo es el lugar donde se produce el azúcar prohibido por EE.UU.?

Alejandro Sanchez
Mejor trabajo estudiantil (todo tipo de medios) – 2nd place
Ruta sur: 3 historias de migrantes africanos en Uruguay

Yery Lorena Alvarez
Mejor trabajo estudiantil (todo tipo de medios) – 3rd place
Hay avances prometedores en las pruebas clínicas contra el cáncer, pero la comunidad hispana se queda atrás

Samuel Larreal, Amelia Orjuela Da Silva & Kylie Hannigan
Coverage of Race & Underrepresented Communities – 3rd place
Great escape: Venezuelans Head North to Uncertainty Series

Samuel Larreal, Amelia Orjuela Da Silva & Kylie Hannigan
In-Depth Reporting – 2nd place
Great escape: Venezuelans Head North to Uncertainty Series

Rafael Hernandez
In-Depth Reporting – 2nd place
Visiting this Kendall man’s arcade is time travel for gamers

Caplin News Staff
Student Broadcast Outlet – 2nd place
2023 FIU News Clips

Caplin News Staff
Website – 2nd place

Laura Palfrey, Sheetal Bahadursingh & Jasmine Arocha
Multimedia Feature – 1st place
Life beyond height: Little people’s struggle to access public buildings

Ñ Awards

Jerónimo Mura
Student Broadcast Journalism – 1st place
Bateyes Dominicanos: ¿Cómo es el lugar donde se produce el azúcar prohibido por EE.UU.?

Lorena Alvarez
Student Broadcast Journalism – 3rd place
Hay avances prometedores en las pruebas clínicas contra el cáncer, pero la comunidad hispana se queda atrás

Green Eyeshade Awards 

Alfredo Banegas
Best Sports Writer – 1st place
“A different team”: Inter Miami’s new coach, new culture await Messi’s arrival

Florida Society of News Editors

Alejandro Sanchez
Features & Enterprise Writing (Spanish) – 1st place
Ruta sur: 3 historias de migrantes africanos en Uruguay

Milena Malaver, Luca Fornoni and Steban Rondon
Podcast – 3rd place
Transcending Perspectives

Milena Malaver, Luca Fornoni and Steban Rondon
Video Storytelling – 3rd place
Transcending Perspectives

Sheetal Bahadursingh, Laura Palfrey and Jasmine Arocha
Photography – 2nd place
Life Beyond Height

Milena Malaver, Luca Fornoni and Steban Rondon
Multimedia – 3rd place
Transcending Perspectives

Samuel Larreal
Features Writing – 3rd place
Great escape: Venezuelans head north to uncertainty, Part 1

Samuel Larreal, Amelia Orjuela De Silva and Kylie Hannigan
Enterprise Writing – 2nd place
Great escape: Venezuelans head north to uncertainty, Parts 1 & 2

Victoria Claria
Sports (Spanish) – 2nd place
Todos con la ‘10’: histórica presentación de Messi en Inter Miami

Victoria Claria
Sports (Spanish) – 3rd place
Messi jugará en Inter Miami: qué significa para el fútbol local

Sandra Cervantes
News Reporting (Spanish) – 2nd place
Silicon Valley: Inseguridad alimentaria entre la riqueza

Charlie Awards

Sheetal Bahadursingh, Jasmine Arocha and Laura Palfrey
Photography – 1st place
Life Beyond Height

Johan Castellanos and Alejandro Sanchez
Multimedia (Spanish) 

Steban Rondon, Milena Malaver, Luca Fornoni
Multimedia – 1st place
Transcending Perspectives

Sandra Cervantes
In-Depth Feature (Spanish) – 1st place 

Samuel Larreal
In-Depth Feature – 1st place
Great escape: Venezuelans head north to uncertainty, Part 1

Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists

Samantha Gutierrez
Climate / Environmental Reporting – 1st place
Workers seek protection from dangers of hot days in Miami-Dade bill

Laura Palfrey, Sheetal Bahadursingh and Jasmine Arocha
Education Reporting – Honorable Mention
Little people switch to online classes due to poor accessibility on campus

Hearst Journalism Awards

Carlton Gillespie
Personality / Profile – 8th place
This Brit discovered the Miami Marlins. Now his podcast reaches across the ocean.

Milena Malaver, Luca Fornoni and Steban Rondon
Multimedia – 8th place
Transcending Perspectives

Samuel Larreal
Explanatory Reporting – 10th place
Great escape: Venezuelans head north to uncertainty, Part 1

Eppy Awards

Tynisa Senior and Ivan Espinoza
Best feature story on a college/university website
Guilty until proven innocent: The wrongful conviction of Thomas Raynard James, part 1

2023

Hearst Journalism Awards

Steban Rondon
Personality/Profile Competition – 4th place
A Colombian cocaine mule escapes from jail and cartel killing

Corina Vera
Multimedia Digital News/Enterprise Competition – 7th place
Anorexia: Through the eyes of…

Florida Society of News Editors

Taylor Gutierrez
Audio story – 1st place
The Secret Life of Scientists

Johny Agudelo and Kamille Bascus
Multimedia story – 1st place
Decades after Miami riots, many still die at the hands of police

Adelia Hernandez
Multimedia story – 2nd place:
A Homestead migrant worker’s journey

Ivan Espinoza and Tynisa Senior
Investigative reporting – 2nd place
Guilty until proven innocent: The wrongful conviction of Thomas Raynard James, parts 1 and 2

2022

Florida Society of News Editors

Helen Acevedo, Alejandra Garcia El Coro and Zitlali Solache
Breaking news – 1st place
Relatives of Surfside victims anxiously await news of loved ones at reunification center, Biden offers solace to families of Surfside victims, A vigil is held for Surfside victims as rescue and investigation continue

Valentina Palm
Investigative reporting – 1st place
Miami Beach’s Dirty Little Secret.

Shantel Sanchez
Sports reporting – 1st place
Freedom Park: What do neighbors think?

Adriana Rizik
Audio – 1st place
The world is fighting an invisible war through the Internet: Interview with Khrystyna M.

Lidia Delgado for first place in
Commentary – 1st place
Is FIU’s P3 App Effective?

Luciana Naretti
Multimedia reporting – 2nd place
Does the incoming flood of college students affect COVID-19 cases on campus?

Zitlali Solache and Julio Mendez
Video storytelling – 2nd place
A son grieves the loss of his elderly parents in the Surfside collapse.

Juan Alvarado
Sports (Spanish language) – 3rd place
El Matadero: El Drama de las eliminatorias sudamericanas

Aaliyah Pasols
Feature writing – 3rd place
Roller skating during the pandemic.

The Green Eyeshade Awards

Valentina Palm
Best News Reporter in the South – 1st place
Miami Beach’s Dirty Little Secret

Liam Rooney
Best Sports Writer in the South – 3rd place
Collected work

Sunshine State Awards

Valentina Palm
Best student work in Spanish – 1st place
El Secreto sucio de Miami Beach

Valentina Palm
Best News Story – 3rd place
Miami Beach’s Dirty Little Secret

Gabriella Genao
Best Profile – 1st place
El Caballero de Santiago

Aaliyah Pasols
Best Light Feature – 1st place
She made Miami chongas famous. Now she’s the voice of Selena in the new Netflix series

Ursula Muñoz Schaefer, Dabney Richards & Vanessa Sanchez
Best Coverage of LGBT Issues – 1st place
Transgender murders plague Puerto Rico (includes video story)

Elizabeth Garcia & Helen Acevedo
Best COVID-19 Coverage – 2nd place
South Florida immigrants struggle to access COVID-19 vaccine

2021

Hearst Award

Valentina Palm
Investigative Reporting – 3rd place ($1500 scholarship)
“Miami Beach’s Dirty Little Secret: The Park View Island Canal“

Green Eyeshade Award

Best News Reporter
Bianca Marcof – 1st place
Alejandra Marquez Janze – 2nd place
Valeria Venturini – 3rd place

Gabriel Urrutia
Best Sports Writer – 3rd place

Yasser Marte
Best Photographer – 1st place

Sunshine State Awards 

Mejor trabajo estudiantil (todo tipo de medios) 

Eppy Award (Editor & Publisher)

Caplin News Staff
Best College Produced Community or Niche Website – Winner

Haley Richards, Paul Martinez and Brianny Viso
Best Video on a College Website – Finalist
Mother and Son Offer Autism Training to First Responders

2020

Hearst Award

Kaylee Padron
Breaking News – Finalist
Trouble at Miami New Times as staff writers leave, culture editor is laid off and salaries cut

Mark of Excellence (SPJ National)

Caplin News Staff
Best independent online student publication – Region 3 Finalist

Valeria Venturini
Non-fiction magazine article – Region 3 Winner
Hundreds of Venezuelans stranded in the United States

Campus Coronavirus Coverage (SPJ National)

Caplin News Staff
Best Coverage – Winner
Pandemic Profiles

Imogen Francis
Best Design – Winner
Florida COVID Stats

Sunshine State Awards

South Florida News Service staff
Best Website – 1st place

Mariandrea Vergel Prieto
Best Coverage of LGBT Issues – 3rd place
Struggles of transgender women transcend borders

Laura Isabel Perez – 1st place
Mejor Trabajo Estudiantil (todo tipo de medios)
Jóvenes boricuas buscan en Miami el hogar que el huracán María les quitó

Juan David Endara
2nd place
Ante la adversidad, la resiliencia: Historias de vidas colombianas que superan la adversidad

Grethel Delgado
3rd place
Coconut Grove Playhouse: 13 años de silencio

Florida Society of News Editors

Yasser Marte and Kai’Chien Chisholm
Multimedia – 2nd place
Stephen Ross, Tank for Tua, and the current state of the Miami Dolphins

Yasser Marte
Photography – 1st place

2019

Florida Society of News Editors

Gabriel Poblete, Maria Gil and Jesse Scheckner
Breaking News Reporting – 1st place
FIU bridge near MMC campus collapses, killing and injuring several, just five days after being built

Adrian Nones-Newman
Enterprise Writing – 2nd place
Millennials buying guns in wake of school shootings

Sebastian Ballestas
Photography – 2nd Place
Miami Broward Carnival

Green Eyeshade Award

Sebastian Ballestas
Best Student Photographer – 3rd place

Sunshine State Awards

South Florida News Service staff
Best Website – 2nd place

Jesse Scheckner, Maria Gil and Gabriel Poblete
Best News Story – 1st place
FIU bridge near MMC campus collapses, killing and injuring several, just five days after being built

Jesse Scheckner, Maria Gil and Gabriel Poblete
Best Disaster Reporting – 2nd place
FIU bridge collapse coverage

Mark of Excellence Awards

Kai’Chien Chisholm
Podcast – Region 3 Finalist
Stephen Ross, Tank for Tua, and the current state of the Miami Dolphins

Jay Valle, Monica Lebro and Andrea Igliozzi
Video Storytelling – 2nd place
South Florida Access Goes from Hollywood Hard Rock to the Lighthouse of Broward

Kai’Chien Chisholm
Sports Column Writing – Region 3 Finalist

2018

Hearst Journalism Awards

Jesse Scheckner
Breaking News Writing – 1st place
FIU bridge near MMC campus collapses, killing and injuring several, just five days after being built