The Jacksonville Record & Observer was named the 2021 Florida Weekly Newspaper Contest Sweepstakes Winner in its category in the statewide journalism competition.
The Record & Observer staff won 16 awards including nine first-place and seven second-place finishes in the 2021 Florida Press Association Weekly Newspaper Contest.
The awards were presented July 16 at a luncheon at The Westin Sarasota.
• Editor Karen Brune Mathis won first place in the Special Issue category for “2020 & beyond,” “Top entrepreneurs” and “Top construction projects 2020.”
Mathis also won first place for General News story for “Regency rebirth” about future plans for the shopping mall. She won second place for “The Stein Mart bankruptcy: How it all ended” and second place for Feature Story: Non-profile for “Rail Yard District” about plans in the neighborhood.
• In the Community History category, contributing writer Dan Macdonald won second place for “Opportunity meets racing history” about The Brumos Collection.
• Staff Writer Mike Mendenhall won the State and Local Tax Reporting and The Tax Watch Award for “Budget: A different set of challenges” about Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry’s 2020-21 city budget.
Mendenhall won second place for Local Government reporting for “The Lot J deal: Millions at stake,” and second place for Feature Story: Profile for “Super insight” about the effort to bring the Super Bowl to Jacksonville and the Republican National Convention.
• In the Education Feature category, Associate Editor Max Marbut won first place for “A legacy of helping small business succeed” about the retirement of Janice Donaldson, former director of the Small Business Development Center at the University of North Florida. Marbut also won first place for COVID-19 General News Story for “Duval trial makes history” about the nnation’s first virtual civil jury trial conducted at the Duval County Courthouse.
• For In-Depth-Reporting, contributing writer Mark Basch, staff writer Scott Sailer, Mathis, Marbut and Mendenhall won first place for “2020 and beyond” about the future of Downtown and Northeast Florida.
• For COVID-19 Breaking News, staff writer Katie Garwood won first place for “Disappointment and relief” about small business owners offering insight into the cancellation of the 2020 Republican National Convention in Jacksonville.
• For COVID-19 Feature Story, Sailer won first place for “Great places to thrive” about home design changes in the wake of the pandemic. The second-place award went to Garwood, Mathis and Mendenhall for “Coronovirus shutdown: One day at a time.”
• Managing Editor Monty Zickuhr won first place for Overall Graphic Design and second place for Page Design.
Jacksonville Record & Observer is published on Thursdays.
