SPJ Florida Wins Chapter of the Year — AGAIN!

The Society of Professional Journalists announced Thursday during the annual Excellence in Journalism (EIJ) conference that SPJ Florida won Chapter of the Year (large chapter). It is the third consecutive year the honor has been bestowed upon the chapter and the seventh time since 2010.

SPJ President Matthew Hall praised the chapter for its coverage guides for Black Lives Matter and transgender people, advocacy for ethnically covering poverty and homeless communities, the newly launched student news program, Fake News Game Show “and the list goes on and on.”

“Congratulations on continuing to push the bar,” Hall said.

The chapter was also honored with the Circle of Excellence for student relations. SPJ Florida proudly supports student journalists at all ages by offering high school newsroom grants, college scholarships (see this year’s winners here and here), presenting at conferences, and offering student newsrooms free use of its Zoom account for meetings.

“We’re proud of this award, but we’re prouder of the work we’ve done to earn it,” said Emily Bloch, SPJ Florida president. “The programs our chapter put on during an unprecedented year spanned topics from advocacy work to journalists in our area: both lifelong and new to the field. We’ll continue to push that mission this year and hope you’ll consider joining our board as we move forward.”

Want to be a part of SPJ Florida? We charge no chapter dues, and we are also preparing for our annual election for the board. Come join us — we want to hear your great ideas!