Nichole Manna and Casey Frank of The Florida Trib accept the third place award in the A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism for "Cold Blooded" series of stories.
Nichole Manna and Casey Frank accept the third place award in the prestigious A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism at the recent Society of Professional Journalism Florida awards ceremony. Credit: Deirdre Conner

The Florida Trib’s award-winning series Cold Blooded, about a decades-old Death Row conviction marred by questionable prosecutorial tactics, was recognized for its impact at the recent Society for Professional Journalism’s Sunshine State Awards in Ft. Lauderdale. 

The series by Nichole Manna and Casey Frank received third place in the SPJ Florida Chapter’s prestigious A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism. The Aug. 28 ceremony was held at ArtServe Fort Lauderdale. 

The series was recognized earlier this year in the Florida Society of News Editors’ 2026 journalism contest with first place in the enterprise, features, and investigative categories, and with the prestigious gold medal for public service. It also received the Online News Association’s feature reporting award in 2025 and has been cited in U.S. Supreme Court briefs.

This year’s Sunshine State Awards brought recognition for Cold Blooded in a second category with the finalist award in Investigative Reporting – Local & Community. Manna’s story A death at the Duval County Jail also won first place in the Beat Reporting – Crime & Courts category. 

SPJ Florida collaborated with the South Florida chapters of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists. The awards program has run since 1994.

Liz Flaisig is The Florida Trib's Partnerships Manager.

Her experience in journalism includes weekly, daily, and investigative reporting and editorial board writing at several publications including the Florida Times-Union, the Jacksonville Business Journal, and the Fort Pierce Tribune. More recently, Liz served as department chair and instructor of creative writing at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts for 15 years. In addition to her research and development work for The Tributary, she is a private tutor for middle and high school students in English Language Arts and a graduate student in University of Rhode Island’s Library and Information Studies program.