The WGCU-FM news team has won 11 awards in the Florida Associated Press Broadcasters Awards competition for its work in 2018. First and second place will be announced at the Florida AP Awards banquet on April 13.
This will top last year’s AP award total of 10.
The winning entries range widely in topics of interest to Southwest Florida, from politics to environmental concerns, human trafficking and immigration, to lighter topics like sports and wine.
WGCU staff are finalists in the following categories:
Breaking News: Andrea Perdomo, “Shorebirds Fall Out of The Sky on a Southwest Florida Beach”
Continuing Coverage: Julie Glenn, Rachel Iacovone and Andrea Perdomo, “Red Tide and Blue Green Algae Converge in Southwest Florida Waters”
Mid-Term Elections Reporter Assignment: Andrea Perdomo and Julie Glenn, “Fort Myers Native Matt Caldwell Claims Have Won Florida Agriculture Commissioner Race.“
Public Affairs: Julie Glenn, Jessica Meszaros and Rachel Iacovone, “Continuing the Conversation About Sex Trafficking Awareness Beyond the Month of January”
Weather Reporting: Rachel Iacovone, “Hurricane Michael Impacts Southwest Florida Communities”
Sports Feature: Rachel Iacovone, “Everblades’ Strong Season Ends on Home Ice”
Use of Sound for Radio: Julie Glenn, “Scientists Look for a Link Between Lake Okeechobee Releases and Red Tide.”
Digital Programming: Julie Glenn and Gina Birch, “Grape Minds Podcast – Wine in a Can”
Feature | Hard News: Rachel Iacovone, “Everglades City Family Still Living in the Backyard a Year After Hurricane Irma.”
Feature | Light News: Andrea Perdomo, “The Holidays with Wotts Mercy.”
General Assignment: Rachel Iacovone, “Children of Immigrants Join Rally After ICE Arrests in Collier County.”
“This past year we continued what I’ll now call a tradition: a tradition of setting a standard for journalism in our community, a tradition of thoughtful and intelligent reporting, and a tradition of serving the public with NPR-grade local news,” said WGCU News Director Julie Glenn.
Florida Associated Press Broadcasters is a not-for-profit organization made of various television, radio and digital stations who subscribe to the services of Associated Press.