Members of Student Media win second and third place in 2018 Sunshine State Awards

Michelle Marchante/Editor-in-Chief

Members of Student Media have won second and third place in two categories of the 24th annual Sunshine State Awards.

Harold Lopez and Nazareth Izada won second place in the “Best Coverage of LGBT Issues” category for their “Out + Proud” video series. At the time, Izada was a senior and RPM director at The Roar, FIU’s student-run radio station, and Lopez was entertainment director for PantherNOW. Izada has since graduated and Lopez is now general manager of The Roar.

Nicole Malanga won third place in the “Best News Photo” category for her “No One Is Illegal” photo. The photo was taken in November at the GC lawns during a student organized walk-out protest for a “clean” DACA bill when Malanga was a senior and Student Media’s multimedia director at the time.

Photo by Nicole Malanga/PantherNOW.

The 2018 awards, as Student Media previously reported, is hosted by the Society of Professional Journalists Florida Pro Chapter to recognize journalists for their quality reporting in 2017 and is open to all professional journalists in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The awards also have a Spanish-language division and a division for students at Florida colleges and universities.

This year’s ceremony was held at the University of Miami’s Newman Alumni Center in Coral Gables on Saturday, Aug. 4.

For the full list of winners, please click here.