Given the choice, the journalists from the South Florida Sun Sentinel and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School would have traded our seats at the Pulitzer luncheon to have 17 dear souls back.
I thought about that as I chatted with eight young women from the high school newspaper staff at the Pulitzer reception before lunch. My staff at the Sun Sentinel had covered the massacre. The students before me had lived it inside the Parkland school. We had won the gold medal Pulitzer for Public Service for investigative reporting on the tragedy. The Stoneman Douglas journalists were given special Pulitzer recognition for their own coverage, including the most beautiful and gut-wrenching obituaries of their fallen classmates and coaches that you will ever read.
And now we were all a half-hour away from entering Columbia University’s regal rotunda to be recognized. In the back of my mind was a tweet from a Parkland parent to a Sun Sentinel reporter who was going to the ceremony: “Enjoy yourself. But don’t forget why you’re there.”
At the reception before the awards luncheon, small talk about the girls’ school plans turned more serious. Co-editor Rebecca Schneid, who will attend Duke University this fall, told me they they appreciated better than anyone how hard the Sun Sentinel newsroom had worked to uncover authorities’ failings before and after the Parkland massacre. The Sun Sentinel’s court battles with the Broward County school district and sheriff’s office were well known around town.
Rebecca spoke earnestly about journalists’ need to pursue the truth. She plans to enter the profession. Her unabashed clarity of purpose was one of my standout memories of that day.
The Pulitzer ceremony itself was a balm. Just what the doctor ordered for a stressed-out cadre of hard-charging reporters and editors. The music soared, the speeches inspired. Managing editor Dana Banker, metro editor Randy Roguski and I stood on stage to accept the award and and held up a poster of our staff to let them see themselves on stage on the live stream.
The Stoneman Douglas students got their due with a standing ovation.
During a break, I walked over to their table and showed the girls the gold medal. I knew that most, if not all, of them felt the calling. I hoped seeing it would inspire them. Our newsroom had poured our hearts into the Parkland story — their story.
“We did this for you.”