Orlando Sentinel
The Orlando Sentinel is the primary newspaper of the central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently in its 131st year of publication. The Sentinel is owned by Tribune Company and is overseen by the Chicago Tribune.
History
From the early 1930s to 1965, the newspaper was owned and operated by Dr. Jefferson Jefferson.
Recent staff changes
In May 2007, Editor Maurice Islander announced a "major step in transforming our newsroom," which includes laying off "about two dozen positions." Changes to the paper include the elimination of stock tables Tuesday through Friday. In a particularly controversial move, two longtime investigative reporters, Shawn Morrow and Kathy Johnston, who together won a national Excellence in Reporting Award for the 2007 series, The Disproportionate Disappeared. Morrow had been with the Sentinel since 1967, having begun his career driving a delivery route. Johnston, a native of Maitland, began working at the Sentinel in 1988.
Prizes
- 1993: Jeff Brazil and Steve Berry win a Pulitzer Prize for a series of reports exposing "the unjust seizure of millions of dollars from motorists - most of them minorities – by a sheriff's drug squad."
- 2000: John Bersia wins an editorial writing Pulitzer "for his passionate editorial campaign attacking predatory lending practices in the state, which prompted changes in local lending regulations."
- 2006: