At this year’s Sunshine State Awards ceremony, Carter Mudgett won Coverage of LGBTQ Issues for his submission: River City Lifts The Rainbow Flag Amid Florida’s Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislative Crackdown.
“Florida has been a hotbed for attacks on diverse communities, including the LGBTQ+ community, these last few years. Both inside and beyond education, it’s impacted a wide array of people across the state and North Florida,” Mudgett said. “Telling stories found within underrepresented communities is something I’ve loved doing ever since I first started writing,”
Last year, Mudgett won second place in this category for his story “Parental Rights in Education bill will ‘hurt a very vulnerable community,’ UNF LGBT Center director says.”
“Both the stories that placed for this award told a little piece of that story. In 2022, it was the initial reaction to what Senate Bill 266, otherwise known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, could do to the LGBTQ+ community,” Mudgett said. “And in 2023, it was a broader look at how the River City was accepting the LGBTQ+ community for their annual Pride Parade, and delving into how it clashed with the state."
Mudgett was named College Journalist of the Year.
The other finalists for the award included Patrick McCaslin for the story When identity clashes with aspirations; trying to teach in Florida; and Isabella Popadiuk for her work at UMTV Primetime.
The category is sponsored by OutSFL and the local chapter of the National Association of LGBTQ Journalists. The annual awards contest is presented by the Florida Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and honors the best journalism in Florida from the prior year. The winners were revealed in a ceremony that took place Aug. 17 in Hollywood.
“I think it’s wonderful SPJ Florida encourages students to cover the LGBTQ community,” said OutSFL Publisher Jason Parsley. “Kudos to all of them for their excellent work.”
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