By: Sharon Aron Baron

The Florida Press Club held its annual meeting Saturday awarding Talk Media, parent company of Tamarac Talk, first place for Online Independent Blog.

Editor Sharon Aron Baron with award from the Florida Press Club

The 63-year-old club was founded as the Florida Women’s Press Club by Frances DeVore, a reporter at the Ocala Star-Banner, to fight inequities that kept women from career advancement in the news industry. Later, though, as “Women’s Pages” faded from section fronts, the club changed its name to the present-day, Florida Press Club. It now counts hundreds of Florida journalists among its ranks, at newspapers across the state.

Held at the Pirate’s Cove Resort & Marina in Stuart, Florida, the evening featured Sun Sentinel Columnist Mike Mayo as their guest speaker.

Tamarac Talk won based on timely and relevant news of the day and articles that were good examples of feature reporting.

Times-Union Media, in Jacksonville, won 31 honors from the club, including the club’s Freedom of Information Award for its pursuit for government openness.

Other top honors in its 62nd Excellence in Journalism Competition went to the South Florida Sun Sentinel for its series, “In Sickness and in Health: A Couple’s Journey,” which won the Lucy Morgan Award for In-Depth Reporting in the largest-newspaper category and to the Miami Herald for its series, “Innocents Lost,” which chronicled the story of children who died in the state’s care.

Tamarac Talk has been providing news and commentary for residents in the City of Tamarac since 2010.