A Look Back at WGCU’s Award-Winning Reporting of 2017

For Southwest Florida, 2017 was a year dramatically punctuated by the September arrival of Hurricane Irma.

It was an extreme storm, which dominated the news in the weeks leading up to and the months that followed landfall. And, WGCU’s coverage of that storm garnered a number of awards.

But, the storm wasn’t the only thing that made news last year. Protests over confederate monuments, immigration bans from the Trump administration, toxic waste being dumped in local neighborhoods — all of these stories — and more were reported on by WGCU, and together, the news team brought home nine Associated Press awards and five Edward R. Murrow awards, including the Florida Associated Press’ Radio Station of the Year.

In light of that, Gulf Coast Live is spending the hour taking a look back at the award winners:

• Regional Edward R. Murrow in Hard News and Florida Associated Press Broadcasters Award for General Assignment for “Governor Scott Visits Everglades City; Still without Power,” by Rachel Iacovone
• Florida Associated Press Broadcasters Award for General Assignment Long Format for “Everglades City Residents Still Without Temporary Housing After Hurricane Irma Storm Surge” by Jessica Meszaros
• Florida Associated Press Broadcasters Award for Feature Hard News for “After Protest, Manatee County Votes To Remove Confederate Statue” by Jessica Meszaros
• Florida Associated Press Broadcasters Finalist for Public Affairs for “Trump’s Immigration Orders Hit Home in South Florida” by Julie Glenn and Matthew Smith
• Regional Edward R. Murrow and Florida Associated Press Broadcasters Award, both for Investigative Reporting, for “High Arsenic Levels On Pine Island Ignored By DEP, Lee County” by Jessica Meszaros
• Regional Edward R. Murrow in Excellence in Writing and Florida Associated Press Broadcasters Award for Feature Light News for “Experience A ‘Dark Sky Park’ In Florida” by Jessica Meszaros
• Regional Edward R. Murrow and Florida Associated Press Broadcasters Finalist, both for Continuing Coverage, for a series of reports by Quincy Walters on the toxic sludge dumping in a predominantly black neighborhood in Fort Myers
• Florida Associated Press Broadcasters Finalist for Feature-Cultural/Historical for “Immokalee HS Graduation Rate Is Up 5 Years In A Row” by Rachel Iacovone
• Florida Associated Press Broadcasters Award for Sports Feature for “Bonita Springs YMCA Spends $300,000 on Pickleball” by Rachel Iacovone

Regional Edward R. Murrow in Hard News and Florida Associated Press Broadcasters Award for General Assignment