The Osceola News-Gazette earned seven state-wide awards at the annual Florida Press Association conference and Best Weekly Newspapers awards banquet, held July 26 at the Bonnett Creek Resort in Orlando.
The News-Gazette won awards for each entry that was nominated, for work done in the 2023 calendar year. The paper competed among other weekly Florida newspapers with circulations over 15,000 per week.
The paper earned third place for Website Excellence, Sports Page or Section and Editorial Page.
Editor Ken Jackson earned four writing awards:
Second place in Serious Column, for the reaction to the plea agreement struck by a Celebration High teacher and coach in his case alleging inappropriate contact with female students. The winner earned the Sally Latham Memorial Award among statewide entries;
Third place in Sports Feature for a retrospect of the longtime Osceola and St. Cloud High football rivalry, which celebrated its 100th game;
Third place in Education Feature for a story on Valencia College’s growing robotics certification program, working to add high-paying jobs to our county’s economy;
Third place in General News Story, for the dive into an Osceola County Sheriff’s Office-involved deadly shooting in a Target store parking lot, and the resulting lawsuit filed by a family affected. The winner earned the Gwen Stevenson Memorial Award among statewide entries.
