“Ocala Gazette” photographer earns awards
Florida Press Club bestows six honors on Bruce Ackerman during annual event.
Susan Lorincz becomes emotional before being sentenced to 25 years by Circuit Court Judge Robert Hodges, as her defense attorney, Morris Carranza, right comforts her at the Marion County Judicial Center in Ocala, Fla. on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Lorincz was found guilty of manslaughter in August for the June 2, 2023 shooting death of Ajike “AJ” Shantrell Owens, who Lorincz shot and killed through her own closed and locked front door. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.
The Florida Press Club, first known as the Florida Women’s Press Club, was founded in the early 1960s to support female journalists who were excluded from existing press organizations. The club’s name changed and its mission has evolved, but its commitment to promoting excellence in journalism remains the same.
Club activities, such as regional journalism seminars and the annual Excellence in Journalism contest, continue to honor and celebrate the achievements of Florida’s journalists. On Jan. 31, during the Excellence In Journalism Awards 2025 event in West Palm Beach, the “Ocala Gazette’s” staff photographer Bruce Ackerman received six awards, including three first-place honors. His entries were submitted according to criteria for these circulation classes:
Class A: Daily newspapers with more than 50,000 daily interactions.
Class B: Daily newspapers with more than 30,000 daily interactions.
Class C: Daily newspapers, non-daily newspapers, community, tribal and college newspapers and website-only publications with less than 30,000 daily interactions.
The awards were based on multiple submissions in each category:
- General News: First Place, Class C
- Feature Photo Essay: First Place, Class C
- Sports Feature: First Place, Class B-C
- Sports Action: Second Place, Class B-C
- Breaking News: Second Place, Class A-C
- Portrait/Personality: Third Place, Class C
“Ackerman has been professionally capturing and documenting Ocala and Marion County’s history for more than 30 years — and he still gets excited when he gets a great shot,” said “Gazette” publisher Jennifer Hunt Murty. “Our team is grateful for the enthusiasm and professionalism he brings to work every day.”
To see the full slate of awards, go to floridapressclub.org
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