SP Times wins a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism

I'm pretty inconsistent about writing on journalism awards in this space. I don't think, for example, that I even mentioned my first place win last month in the criticism category of the Sunshine State Awards, a statewide contest sponsored by the South Florida Society of Professional Journalists (well, until now).

  But I did want to note my pal Robert Farley's win of a much more prestigious honor -- a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism awarded by The Journalism Center on Children & Families, a nonprofit affiliate of the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism. According to the awards Web site "Judges sought masterfully reported, compelling stories that cut through compassion fatigue on socially significant topics; demonstrated enterprise and thorough research; and showed evidence of impact."

Rob's piece "The Atypical Dilemma" revealed stunning numbers of toddlers and children being prescribed antipsychotic medication not recommended for their use. And because his work only focused on Medicaid patients the issue is likely even larger than his story outlines.

This is the kind of work we need from a media structure increasingly challenged to reach audiences and make profits. It won't be chewed over on the cable channels, but it just may alert the community to a serious social ill.