Students from FIU’s Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media scored three first places in the Sunshine State Awards, which were handed out this past weekend in Fort Lauderdale.
During a ceremony at Art Serve on Sunrise Boulevard, Caplin’s Sarah Mayorca took the top spot in LGBTQ+ coverage for a story about an artful Saint Petersburg rally for equal rights; Lucas Bogardus, Lola Rodriguez Joanna Camargo and Dylan Teboe took first in Multimedia Features for a documentary and other work on censorship in Florida; and Carlos Ortiz, Jazmine Santillana and Mario Ojeda did the best work in Spanish of any university in the state: a story about Venezuelan migrants stuck in Colombia after the United States cut aid programs.
Other Caplin students were finalists in serious feature, arts and entertainment writing, narrative feature, and special issue.
The Sunshine State Awards, which are sponsored by the Society for Professional Journalists, had a record number of entries this year.
“Thanks to SPJ for recognizing this work,” said Ortiz. “It’s incredibly rewarding to see this story honored, especially knowing the passion we put into finding the humanity behind it. None of this would have been possible without teamwork. Thank you to my colleagues!”
