The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting won two Sunshine State Awards for television and documentary projects released in 2016.
“Florida’s Indian River Lagoon in Environmental Crisis,” produced by Lisa Desai and Yasmeen Qureshi in partnership with PBS NewsHour Weekend, won second place in television public affairs. The story examined the environmental emergency facing the Indian River Lagoon, a 156-mile waterway on Florida’s East Coast that is among North America’s most biodiverse.
The documentary short Unforgiven — produced by Alexandra Clinton, Adeel Ahmed, Ashwin Gandbhir and Asad Faruqi — won third place in the same category. The documentary told the story of Roderick Kemp, one of an estimated 6.1 million Americans, and 1.7 million Floridians, who are disenfranchised due to felony convictions. “Unforgiven” was distributed through media partners including The Atlantic, TIME and the Miami Herald. “Unforgiven” also won three Green Eyeshade Awards.