"Bell County Tornado"

Recipient of the STAR BREAKING NEWS REPORT OF THE YEAR award in THE CHARLES E. GREEN AWARDS (2022)

Eric E. Garcia, Christian Betancourt, Shane Monaco
TEMPLE DAILY TELEGRAM

Judge’s Comments:

Tornadoes don’t come with a tracking cone and a week of warnings, like a sprawling, slow-moving hurricane. The sudden fury of shrieking winds that shred homes, cars and lives – right on deadline – is the epitome of breaking news. The Temple Daily Telegram responded just as quickly last April. In those first hours following the Bell County tornado, they focused on the safety of their community, the people in the path and in the wreckage, and they sorted out the still-fuzzy details of destruction, cleanup and recovery.

The first staff report detailed the National Weather Service warning of a “life-threatening situation” with instructions to get in the tub under a mattress, with a bike helmet if possible. The main story by Eric Garcia helped readers follow the path with town and road names, amounts of rain and hail size, and the initial frighteningly vague label of “significant strength.”

Garcia’s subsequent stories filled in details of injured taken to hospitals, the house-to-house searches, downed power lines, missing roofs and the first offers of aid and shelter with specific addresses and hours.

Christian Betancourt and Shane Monaco captured the community’s fear and shock, the dash to shepherd family members inside even as the walls came down. Their poignant description included even the local cemetery from the 1800s ripped apart, the tombstone of one young man uprooted and vanished while that of his brother remained, leaving a father to wonder who will bring them together again, how and when.

Monaco covered the start of recovery when daylight came, with news of hotlines, shelters, food and fundraisers as governments, churches and others responded.

The writers, doubling as photographers, demonstrate strong local knowledge of geography and community history. They smartly navigate through the flow of official statements while pulling out the emotional quotes and personal stories of stunned and terrified residents. Throughout their reporting, they leverage social media to both provide and receive helpful information.

The April 2022 tornado coverage by the Temple Daily Telegram staff deserves recognition as the Breaking News Report of the Year.

John Bartosek
Former editor, The Palm Beach Post

Judge’s Bio:
John Bartosek is the former editor of The Palm Beach Post in South Florida. In 24 years at The Post, he served as Managing Editor, Deputy Managing Editor and News Editor. He also worked as News Editor at The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., and began his journalism career at TODAY Newspaper in Cocoa, Florida. After leaving The Post, he worked briefly as editor of PolitiFact.com/Florida. He is a former president and contest chair for the Florida Society of News Editors and a former chair of APME’s Credibility Committee. He graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and received an MBA from Florida Atlantic University. He currently is Communications Officer for Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County.

To see the prize-winning coverage from the Temple Daily Telegram for its coverage of the Bell County Tornado, click the links below:

PDF 1 to content online
PDF 2 to content online
PDF 3 to content online
PDF 4 to content online
PDF 5 to content online
PDF 6 to content online