Suncoast Searchlight named finalist for 9 Sunshine State journalism awards

Suncoast Searchlight has been named a finalist for nine Sunshine State Awards, one of Florida’s most prestigious journalism competitions, capping a first year that has brought widespread state and national recognition for the fledgling nonprofit newsroom’s accountability reporting.

The finalists, announced last week by the Society of Professional Journalists’ Florida Pro Chapter, are the latest honors for Suncoast Searchlight, which began publishing stories in February 2025. 

Earlier this year, the newsroom won the Institute for Nonprofit News’ national Insight Award for Explanatory Journalism for its “Power and Profit” investigation, was named a finalist for Best Investigative Journalism in the INNY Awards for “Stripmall Casinos,” and earned a Silver Award for Best Investigative Report from the National Association of Real Estate Editors. 

It also received multiple honors from the Florida Press Club, the Florida Society of News Editors and the national Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.

The Society of Professional Journalists finalists recognize excellence in journalism produced during 2025.

Suncoast Searchlight earned finalist honors in the following categories:

• Investigative Reporting — Local & Community: “Manatee County Schools Misconduct” (with the Bradenton Herald) by Carter Weinhofer, Kara Newhouse and Josh Salman; and “Sarasota County Stormwater Investigation” (with Florida Trident) by Michael Barfield and Derek Gilliam.
• Investigative Reporting — Regional & Statewide: “Illegal Arcades” (with the Bradenton Herald) by Josh Salman, Derek Gilliam and Michael Moore Jr.
• Non-Deadline News Reporting — State & National: “Jail-to-Deportation Pipeline” by Kara Newhouse and Alice Herman.
• Series: “Power and Profit” by Josh Salman, Derek Gilliam and Kara Newhouse.
• Data Reporting: “Rent-a-Cow” by Josh Salman and Kara Newhouse.
• Small Town & Rural Reporting: Suncoast Searchlight’s coverage of DeSoto County.
• Human Interest Story: “Queens of Domestic Violence” by Clinton Engelberger.
• Beat Reporting — Education: Alice Herman’s coverage of New College of Florida.

Many of those honors recognized collaborative investigations produced with partner news organizations, including the Bradenton Herald and Florida Trident, highlighting the value of local news organizations working together to tackle complex, high-impact stories.

“It’s incredibly gratifying to see our reporters recognized alongside some of the largest and most respected news organizations in Florida,” said Emily Le Coz, Suncoast Searchlight’s executive editor-in-chief. “These nominations reflect the talent, persistence and public-service mission of our newsroom. They also reflect the power of collaboration — many of these stories were produced alongside local journalism partners who share our commitment to accountability reporting.”

Winners of the Sunshine State Awards will be announced Aug. 29 during the annual awards ceremony in Fort Lauderdale.