The Osceola News-Gazette received eight nominations this week in the Florida Press Association’s Weekly Newspaper Contest, honoring its work done, content written and stories shared with the community in 2022.
First, second and thirdplace awards in each category will be awarded at the FPA’s annual Florida Media Conference in July in Sarasota.
Among the nominations are nod in the General Excellence category, which takes into account the overall content and design of the newspaper. The News-Gazette took third place in Division A (weekly/ bi-weekly papers with circulations above 15,000) in General Excellence last year.
Among the other writing nominations: Editor Ken Jackson and Production Manager Angelique Priore are nominated for Online Breaking News, for the coverage and visual content of the week-long trial of Anthony Todt, who was convicted of murdering his family in Celebration.
Jackson received four other nominations: Sports Column, for a colorful feature on the Osceola-Lakeland high school football rivalry; Local Government Reporting, for a story on the near decadelong history of the land that has become NeoCity; Education Feature, for a story on an area company that advocates for school students and families who need assistance with individualized education plans (IEPs); Serious Column, for a piece that marked the fifth anniversary of the deadly shooting of Kissimmee Police Officers Matthew Baxter and Sam Howard. The columnist judged statewide winner of that category across all circulation divisions will receive the Sally Latham Memorial Editorial Award.
Sports reporter J. Daniel Pearson was nominated in Sports Spot News Story, for his story on the retirement of longtime Osceola High School wrestling coach and athletic director Jim Bird. His work was also honored in the Sports Section category.
