DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Four of the six stories won by Headline Surfer® in the 2014 Florida Press Club Statewide Journalism Contest focused on political corruption with two of them on New Smyrna Beach Mayor Adam Barringer.
There was one story each on the corrupt leadership of the Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority and Daytona Beach City Commissioner Carl Lentz, IV, who was trespassed from a strip club by the cops.
The other two stories among the six award-winners were far more positive -- the fifth winning story highlighted Daytona Beach Mayor's remembrance of the late poet, Maya Angelou.
The sixth award-winning story featured a Q&A session with Daytona each minister L. Ronalf Durham on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Three of the stories were in the category of "General News Writing" and the other three in the category "Minority News Reporting."
The big three stories reciognized under general news writing all had the theme of corruption as their core. A chance opportunity to get New Smyrna Beach Mayor Adam Barringer to acknowledge on video camera that he led the vote to raise property taxes taxes two years in a row while not paying his own taxes was priceless.