Tampa Bay Times

{{redirect|St. Petersburg Times|the weekly newspaper in Russia|The St. Petersburg Times (Russia)}}

{{Infobox newspaper

| name = Tampa Bay Times

| image = border

| caption = The January 1, 2012, front page of the first edition of the Tampa Bay Times.

| type = Daily newspaper

| format = Broadsheet

| foundation = {{start date and age|1884}}

| owners = Times Publishing Company

| circulation = 102,266 Average print circulation{{cite news |last1=Turvill |first1=William

|title=Top 25 US newspaper circulations: Print sales fall another 12% in 2022

|url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/us-newspaper-circulations-2022/ |access-date=28 June 2022 |publisher=Press Gazette |date=June 24, 2022}}

| headquarters = 490 First Avenue South
St. Petersburg, Florida 33701
United States

| language = English

| editor =

| website = {{URL|tampabay.com}}

| eissn = 2641-4643

| ISSN = 2327-9052

| oclc = 5920090

}}

The Tampa Bay Times, called the St. Petersburg Times until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, a nonprofit journalism school directly adjacent to the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus.

It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single year for the first time in its history, one of which was for its PolitiFact project.

History

File:St. Petersburg Times (2009-08-27).svg

The newspaper traces its origin to the West Hillsborough Times, a weekly newspaper established in Dunedin, Florida, on the Pinellas Peninsula in 1884. At the time, neither St. Petersburg nor Pinellas County existed; the peninsula was part of Hillsborough County. The paper was published weekly in the back of a pharmacy and had a circulation of 480. It subsequently changed ownership six times in seventeen years.{{cite web |title=Times History |url=http://company.tampabay.com:2052/company/about-us/times-history |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112103529/http://company.tampabay.com:2052/company/about-us/times-history |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 12, 2017 |publisher=Times Publishing Company |access-date=June 13, 2018 |date=2015}} In December 1884, it was bought by A. C. Turner, who moved it to Clear Water Harbor (modern Clearwater, Florida). In 1892, it moved to St. Petersburg, and by 1898 it was officially renamed the St. Petersburg Times.{{cite news |title= The St. Petersburg Times will become the Tampa Bay Times on Jan. 1 |author= Deggans, Eric |url= http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/content/st-petersburg-times-will-become-tampa-bay-times-jan-1 |work= St. Petersburg Times |date= November 1, 2011 |access-date= April 3, 2012 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120208201000/http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/content/st-petersburg-times-will-become-tampa-bay-times-jan-1 |archive-date= February 8, 2012 |df= mdy-all }}

File:Tampa Bay Times.jpg

The Times became bi-weekly in 1907, and began publication six days a week in 1912. Paul Poynter, a publisher originally from Indiana, bought the paper in September 1912 and converted to a seven-day paper, though it was rarely financially stable. Paul's son, Nelson Poynter, became editor in 1939 and took majority control of the paper in 1947, and set about improving the paper's finances and prestige. Nelson Poynter controlled the paper until his death in 1978, when he willed the majority of the stock to the non-profit Poynter Institute. In November 1986, the Evening Independent was merged into the Times.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} Poynter was succeeded as editor by Eugene Patterson (1978–1988), Andrew Barnes (1988–2004), Paul Tash (2004–2010; chair of the Times Publishing Company since 2004 and the Poynter Institute since 2007){{Cite web |url=http://www.tampabay.com/company/about-us/times-executives/bios/ptash |title=Paul C. Tash |access-date=March 23, 2017 |archive-date=March 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130330162627/http://www.tampabay.com/company/about-us/times-executives/bios/ptash |url-status=dead }} Neil Brown (2010–2017),http://www.tampabay.com/company/about-us/times-executives/bios/nbrown {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171021013044/http://www.tampabay.com/company/about-us/times-executives/bios/nbrown |date=October 21, 2017 }} and Mark Katches (2018–present).http://company.tampabay.com:2052/company/about-us/times-executives/bios/mkatches {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112175304/http://company.tampabay.com:2052/company/about-us/times-executives/bios/mkatches |date=January 12, 2021 }}

On January 1, 2012, the St. Petersburg Times was renamed the Tampa Bay Times; this stemmed from a 2006 decision of a lawsuit with Media General, at the time the publishers of the Times{{'}} competing newspaper, The Tampa Tribune, which allowed that paper to keep its exclusive right to use the name of its defunct sister paper, The Tampa Times, for five years after the decision.

As the newly rechristened Tampa Bay Times, the paper's weekday tabloid tbt*, a free daily publication and which used "(* Tampa Bay Times)" as its subtitle, became just tbt when the name change took place. The St. Pete Times name lives on as the name for the Times{{'}} neighborhood news sections in southern Pinellas County (formerly Neighborhood Times), serving communities from Largo southward.

File:Tbt (2018-01-24).svg tbt* in 2018]]

File:Tampa Bay Times tbt (2009-08-27).svg

The Times has also done significant investigative reporting on the Church of Scientology, since the church's acquisition of the Fort Harrison Hotel in 1975 and other holdings in Clearwater. The Times has published special reports and series critical of the church and its current leader, David Miscavige.

In 2010, the Times published an investigative report questioning the validity of the United States Navy Veterans Association, leading to significant reaction and official investigations into the group nationwide.{{Cite news | author1 = Casey, Dan | author2 = Sluss, Michael | title = Fla. Contributor to Va. Campaigns Raises Questions – A Man Who Lived in Florida and Gave $67,500 to Virginia Campaigns Is Under Investigation | work = The Roanoke Times | date = May 16, 2010 | url = http://www.roanoke.com/247014 | access-date = February 11, 2013 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121005050622/http://www.roanoke.com/247014 | archive-date = October 5, 2012 | df = mdy-all }}

On May 3, 2016, the Times acquired its longtime competitor The Tampa Tribune, with the latter publication immediately ceasing publishing{{cite news |author1=Sunde Farquhar |title=Tampa Bay Times buys, shutters Tampa Tribune |url=http://www.wfla.com/news/hillsborough-county/tampa-bay-times-buys-tampa-tribune/1052099560 |work=WFLA |date=May 3, 2016}} and Tribune features and some writers expected to be merged into the Times.{{cite news | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/05/03/tampa-bay-times-buys-ends-rival-tampa-tribune/83888058/ | title='Tampa Bay Times' buys, shuts down rival 'Tampa Tribune' | work=USA Today | date=May 3, 2016 | access-date=May 3, 2016}} As reported by other local media outlets in the Tampa Bay area at the time of this acquisition, for many years the Tampa Tribune was considered to be the more conservative newspaper in the region, while the Tampa Bay Times was thought of as more liberal.

The Times{{'}} purchase of The Tribune also allowed its circulation area to be expanded into Polk County, placing it in competition with other newspapers such as The Lakeland Ledger and The Polk County Democrat, as well as into the south central region of the state known as the Florida Heartland. In the case of the latter, the Times published Highlands Today, which was a daily news supplement of The Tribune for readers in Highlands County.{{cite news|url=http://www.highlandstoday.com/hi/local-news/a-note-from-our-publisher-20160504/|work=Highlands Today|title=A note from our publisher|date=May 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506055720/http://www.highlandstoday.com/hi/local-news/a-note-from-our-publisher-20160504/ |archive-date=May 6, 2016}} The Times sold the paper in 2016 to Sun Coast Media Group.{{Cite web |date=August 22, 2016 |title=Sun Coast Media Group buys Highlands Today from Tampa Bay Times |url=https://www.theledger.com/story/business/2016/08/22/sun-coast-media-group-buys-highlands-today-from-tampa-bay-times/25602859007/ |access-date=2024-08-07 |website=The Ledger |language=en-US}}

In October 2019, the paper laid off seven newsroom employees.{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Tom |date=2019-10-24 |title=Tampa Bay Times lays off 7 newsroom employees |url=https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2019/tampa-bay-times-lays-off-7-newsroom-employees/ |access-date=2024-08-07 |website=Poynter |language=en-US}}

The Times received $8.5 million in federal loans from the Paycheck Protection Program by July 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. By this point, they had reduced delivery to two days per week. They had also cut 11 journalists' jobs through layoffs expected before the pandemic.{{cite news |last1=Izadi |first1=Elahe |last2=Barr |first2=Jeremy |title=Four takeaways from the PPP loans to media companies show the far-reaching toll of the pandemic |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/four-takeaways-from-the-ppp-loans-to-media-companies-show-the-far-reaching-toll-of-the-pandemic/2020/07/07/baabe4a2-bfd9-11ea-9fdd-b7ac6b051dc8_story.html |newspaper=Washington Post |date=7 July 2020}}

In August 2024, the paper announced it will eliminate 60 jobs, amounting to 20% of total staff.{{Cite web |last=Edmonds |first=Rick |date=2024-08-06 |title=The Tampa Bay Times will cut a fifth of its workforce |url=https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2024/tampa-bay-times-layoffs-buyouts-60-jobs/ |access-date=2024-08-07 |website=Poynter |language=en-US}}

On October 9-10, 2024, the Tampa Bay Times building was severely damaged during Hurricane Milton by a nearby construction crane that collapsed onto the building.{{Cite web |title=Crane collapses into Times' office building amid thrashing Milton winds |url=https://www.tampabay.com/hurricane/2024/10/10/crane-collapses-into-times-office-building-amid-thrashing-milton-winds/ |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=Tampa Bay Times |language=en}}

PolitiFact.com

The newspaper created PolitiFact.com, a project in which its reporters and editors "fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups…"{{cite web| title = PolitiFact.com| work = St. Petersburg Times| url = http://www.politifact.com | access-date = August 27, 2009}} They publish original statements and their evaluations on the PolitiFact.com website and assign each a "Truth-O-Meter" rating, with ratings ranging from "True" for completely true statements to "Pants on Fire" (from the taunt "Liar, liar, pants on fire") for false and ridiculous statements. The site also includes an "Obameter",{{cite web |title=The Obameter |publisher=Politifact |url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/ |access-date=8 April 2017}} tracking U.S. President Barack Obama's performance with regard to his campaign promises. PolitiFact.com was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2009 for "its fact-checking initiative during the 2008 presidential campaign that used probing reporters and the power of the World Wide Web to examine more than 750 political claims, separating rhetoric from truth to enlighten voters."{{cite web |title=2009 Pulitzer Prize Winners & Finalists |url=http://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/2009 |publisher=The Pulitzer Prizes |access-date=June 13, 2018}} The Times sold PolitiFact.com to its parent company, the Poynter Institute, in 2018.

Awards and nominations

class="wikitable"

style="text-align:center;"

! Year

! Award

! Work

! Recipients

! Category

! Result

2022

|Pulitzer Prize

|For a compelling exposé of highly toxic hazards inside Florida’s only battery recycling plant that forced the implementation of safety measures to adequately protect workers and nearby residents.

|Corey G. Johnson, Rebecca Woolington and Eli Murray

|Investigative Reporting

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{Cite web|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/corey-g-johnson-rebecca-woolington-and-eli-murray-tampa-bay-times|title=Winner: Corey G. Johnson, Rebecca Woolington and Eli Murray of the Tampa Bay Times |website=The Pulitzer Prizes |language=en |access-date=2022-05-09}}

2021

|Pulitzer Prize

|For resourceful, creative reporting that exposed how a powerful and politically connected sheriff built a secretive intelligence operation that harassed residents and used grades and child welfare records to profile schoolchildren.

|Kathleen McGrory and Neil Bedi

|Local Reporting

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{Cite web|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/kathleen-mcgrory-and-neil-bedi-tampa-bay-times|title=Winner: Kathleen McGrory and Neil Bedi of the Tampa Bay Times |website=The Pulitzer Prizes |language=en |access-date=2021-06-11}}

2019

|Pulitzer Prize

|For impactful reporting, based on sophisticated data analysis, that revealed an alarming rate of patient fatalities following Johns Hopkins' takeover of a pediatric heart treatment facility.

|Kathleen McGrory and Neil Bedi

|Investigative Reporting

| style="background:#fdd;"|Finalist{{Cite web|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/kathleen-mcgrory-and-neil-bedi-tampa-bay-times|title=Finalist: Kathleen McGrory and Neil Bedi of the Tampa Bay Times |website=The Pulitzer Prizes |language=en |access-date=2019-12-14}}

rowspan="2"|2016

|rowspan="2"|Pulitzer Prize

|"For exposing a local school board's culpability in turning some county schools into failure factories, with tragic consequences for the community. (Moved by the Board from the Public Service category, where it was also entered.)"

|Michael LaForgia, Cara Fitzpatrick and Lisa Gartner

|Local Reporting

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-category/208|title=Local Reporting|website=www.pulitzer.org}}

"For a stellar example of collaborative reporting by two news organizations that revealed escalating violence and neglect in Florida mental hospitals and laid the blame at the door of state officials."

|Leonora LaPeter Anton and Anthony Cormier of the Tampa Bay Times and Michael Braga of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune

|Investigative Reporting

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-category/206|title=Investigative Reporting|website=www.pulitzer.org}}

2014

|Pulitzer Prize

|"For relentlessly investigating the squalid conditions that marked housing for Hillsborough County's substantial homeless population, leading to swift reforms."

|Will Hobson and Michael LaForgia

|Local Reporting

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2014-Local-Reporting|title=JOURNALISM|website=www.pulitzer.org}}

2013

|Pulitzer Prize

|"For helping reverse the decision to end fluoridation of water in Pinellas County."

|Tim Nickens and Daniel Ruth

|Editorial Writing

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2013-Editorial-Writing|title=2013 Pulitzer Prizes - Editorial Writing |website=www.pulitzer.org}}

2012

|Pulitzer Prize

|Tim Nickens, Joni James, John Hill and Robyn Blumner

|Editorial Writing

| style="background:#fdd;"|Finalist{{cite news | author = Staff | title =Times writer's stories earn her 2003 Ernie Pyle Award | work =St. Petersburg Times | page =3B | date =March 13, 2004}}

rowspan="3"|2010

|National Headliner Awards

| rowspan="2"|"Inside Scientology"

| rowspan="2"|Thomas C. Tobin and Joe Childs

|Investigative reporting

| style="background:#fdd;"|Finalist{{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2012-Editorial-Writing|title=2012 Pulitzer Prizes - JOURNALISM|website=www.pulitzer.org}}

Florida Society of News Editors

|Gold Medal for Public Service

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite news| last = Sentinel Staff Report | title = Orlando Sentinel wins 17 awards from Florida Society of News Editors | work = Orlando Sentinel | date = June 18, 2010| url = http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-orlando-sentinel-fsne-awards-20100618,0,3887288.story | access-date = June 18, 2010}}{{cite news| author = Staff | title =FSNE Gold Medal for Public Service | publisher = Florida Society of News Editors | date =June 18, 2010 | url = http://fsne.org/2010awards/| access-date = June 18, 2010 |quote=Inside Scientology – The St. Petersburg Times reporting on the Church of Scientology is in the finest traditions of American journalism. The reporting by Joseph Childs and Thomas Tobin stands out for the ways in which it held accountable the powerful.}}

Pulitzer Prize

|"For Their Own Good"

|Ben Montgomery, Waveney Ann Moore, and photographer Edmund D. Fountain

|Local Reporting

| style="background:#fdd;"|Finalist{{cite web |url= http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/2010 |title= The Pulitzer Prizes – Finalists 2010 |publisher= Columbia University |access-date= April 12, 2010}}

rowspan="4"|2009

| rowspan="4"|Pulitzer Prize

| rowspan="2"|PolitiFact.com

| rowspan="2"|Times staff, represented by Bill Adair, Washington bureau chief

|National Reporting

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite news |title=St. Petersburg Times wins two Pulitzer Prizes |url=http://www.tampabay.com/features/media/article993724.ece |date=April 20, 2009 |work=St. Petersburg Times |first=Stephen |last=Nohlgren |access-date=April 20, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422143521/http://www.tampabay.com/features/media/article993724.ece |archive-date=April 22, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}{{cite news | last =McElroy | first =Jack | title = Paperless project claims a Pulitzer | work =Knoxville News Sentinel | page =60 | date =April 26, 2009}}

Public Service

| style="background:#fdd;"| Finalist

"The Girl in the Window"

|Lane DeGregory

|Feature Writing

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite news | last =Young | first =Charles William | title = St. Petersburg Times earns two Pulitzer Prizes for journalism | work =Congressional Record | page =E950–E951 | date =April 23, 2009}}

"Winter's Tale"

|John Barry

|Feature Writing

| style="background:#fdd;"| Finalist

rowspan="3"|2007

| rowspan="2"|Scripps Howard Foundation

|Human Interest Writing

|Lane DeGregory

|Ernie Pyle Award

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite news | last = Staff | title =Scripps winners named | work =The Kentucky Post | page =A5 | date =March 10, 2007}}

"A Republican vs. Republican Cellular Division"

|Wes Allison

|Raymond Clapper Award

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won

Pulitzer Prize

|"In His Own Defense"

|Christopher Goffard

|Feature Writing

| style="background:#fdd;"| Finalist{{cite web |url= http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/2007 |title= The Pulitzer Prizes – Finalists 2007 |publisher= Columbia University |access-date= December 5, 2009}}

2003

|Scripps Howard Foundation

|Human Interest Writing

|Kelley Benham

|Ernie Pyle Award

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite news | last =St. Petersburg Times staff | title =Times writer's stories earn her 2003 Ernie Pyle Award | work =St. Petersburg Times | page =3B | date =March 13, 2004}}

2002

|Scripps Howard Foundation

|"The Poison in Your Back Yard"

|Julie Hauserman

|Edward J. Meeman Award

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite news | author = Staff | title =Two Times reporters earn national awards | work =St. Petersburg Times | page =3B | date =March 2, 2002}}

rowspan="2"|2000

| rowspan="2"|Pulitzer Prize

| rowspan="2"|"Una Vida Mejor"

| rowspan="2"|Anne Hull

|Feature Writing

| style="background:#fdd;"| Finalist{{cite web |url= http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/2000 |title= The Pulitzer Prizes – Finalists 2000 |publisher= Columbia University |access-date= December 5, 2009}}

National Reporting

| style="background:#fdd;"| Finalist

rowspan="2"|1999

| rowspan="2"|Sigma Delta Chi

|"Deadly Rampage"

|Times staff

|Excellence in deadline reporting

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite news | author = Staff | title =Times earns national reporting awards | work =St. Petersburg Times | page =3B | date =April 18, 1999}}

Investigative report of U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown

|Bill Adair and David Dahl

|Washington correspondence

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite news|title=St. Petersburg Times History – From 1884 to present|work=St. Petersburg Times|year=2007|url=http://www.sptimes.com/connect/corporate/history|access-date = November 12, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090818022843/http://www.sptimes.com/connect/corporate/history|archive-date=August 18, 2009}}

rowspan="3"|1998

| rowspan="3"|Pulitzer Prize

|"Angels & Demons"

|Thomas French

|Feature Writing

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite news | last =Leisner | first = Pat | title =Indianapolis native wins Pulitzer Prize | agency = Associated Press |newspaper=Post-Tribune | page =B5 | date =April 16, 1998}}

Investigative report of The Rev. Henry Lyons

|Times staff

|Investigative Reporting

| style="background:#fdd;"| Finalist{{cite web |url= http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/1998 |title= The Pulitzer Prizes – Finalists 1998 |publisher= Columbia University |access-date= December 5, 2009}}

The "Tobacco" series

|David Barstow

|Explanatory Reporting

| style="background:#fdd;"| Finalist

1997

|Pulitzer Prize

|Coverage of the 1996 St. Petersburg riot

|Times staff

|Spot News Reporting

| style="background:#fdd;"| Finalist{{cite web |url= http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/1997 |title= The Pulitzer Prizes – Finalists 1997 |publisher= Columbia University |access-date= December 5, 2009}}

rowspan="2"|1995

| rowspan="2"|Pulitzer Prize

|"Final Indignities"

|Jeffrey Good

|Editorial Writing

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite news | author = | title =Prizes honor wide range of stories; Winners of the 1995 Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism included stories of natural disaster, human tragedy and courage | agency = Associated Press |newspaper=Portland Press Herald | page =7A | date =April 19, 1995}}

"A Secret Life"

|Anne Hull

|Feature Writing

| style="background:#fdd;"| Finalist{{cite web |url= http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/1995 |title= The Pulitzer Prizes – Finalists 1995 |publisher= Columbia University |access-date= December 5, 2009}}

1992

|Pulitzer Prize

|"Life From Death"

|Sheryl James

|Feature Writing

| style="background:#fdd;"| Finalist{{cite web |url= http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/1992 |title= The Pulitzer Prizes – Finalists 1992 |publisher= Columbia University |access-date= December 5, 2009}}

1991

|Pulitzer Prize

|"A Gift Abandoned"

|Sheryl James

|Feature Writing

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite news | author = | title =Barberton native wins a Pulitzer | agency = Associated Press |newspaper=Akron Beacon Journal | page =A1 | date =April 10, 1991}}

1985

|Pulitzer Prize

|Corruption in Pasco County Sheriff's Office

|Lucy Morgan and Jack Reed

|Investigative Reporting

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite news | last =Marx | first =Gary | title =Pulitzer winners: UCF student, St. Pete Times | work =Orlando Sentinel | page =A1 | date =April 25, 1985}}

1982

|Pulitzer Prize

|Coverage of drug smuggling in Dixie County, Florida

|Lucy Morgan

|Local General or Spot News Reporting

| style="background:#fdd;"| Finalist{{cite web |url= http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/1982 |title= The Pulitzer Prizes – Finalists 1982 |publisher= Columbia University |access-date= December 5, 2009}}

rowspan="2"|1980

| rowspan="2"|Pulitzer Prize

| rowspan="2"|Investigation of Church of Scientology operations in Florida

|Bette Swenson Orsini and Charles Stafford

|National Reporting

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite news | author = Staff | title =Pulitzer Prize board, for first time, names finalists in all categories | work =The Boston Globe | date =April 16, 1980}}{{r|sptimes1979}}

Times staff

|Public Service

| style="background:#fdd;"| Finalist{{cite web |url= http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/1980 |title= The Pulitzer Prizes – Finalists 1980 |publisher= Columbia University |access-date= December 5, 2009}}

1969

|Penney-Missouri Award

|Women's section

|Marjorie Paxson

|General Excellence

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite journal |last1=Voss |first1=Kimberly Wilmot |last2=Speere |first2=Lance |title=Marjorie Paxson: From Women's Editor to Publisher |journal=Media History Monographs |date=2007–2008 |volume=10 |issue=1 |url=http://blogs.elon.edu/mhm/files/2017/03/mhmjour10-1.pdf |access-date=17 March 2019}}

1964

|Pulitzer Prize

|Investigation of Florida Turnpike Authority

|Martin Waldron and Times staffStaff (May 28, 1981). [https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/28/obituaries/martin-o-waldron-is-dead-at-56-reporting-led-to-a-pulitzer-prize.html "Martin O. Waldron Is Dead at 56; Reporting Led to a Pulitzer Prize"]. The New York Times. Retrieved July 13, 2010.

|Meritorious Public Service

| style="background:#dfd;"|Won{{cite news | last =Garloch | first =Karen | title =Observer wins Pulitzer Prize for coverage of PTL, Bakkers | work =The Charlotte Observer | page =1A | date =April 1, 1988}}

Notes

{{Reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite web |url=http://sptimes.com/2006/webspecials06/scientology/Scientology_Special_Report.pdf |title=Scientology: An in-depth profile of a new force in Clearwater |date=1979 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070809193839/http://sptimes.com/2006/webspecials06/scientology/Scientology_Special_Report.pdf |archive-date=August 9, 2007 |first=Charles |last=Stafford |publisher=St Petersburg Times }} {{cite web |url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/bette-swenson-orsini-and-charles-stafford |title=The 1980 Pulitzer Prize Winner in National Reporting |website=The Pulitzer Prizes}}

{{multiref

|1=The Truth Rundown, a three-part series by Thomas C. Tobin and Joe Childs, St Petersburg Times

|2=

{{cite web |url=https://www.tampabay.com/special-reports/2019/10/17/scientology-the-truth-rundown/ |title=Part 1 — Scientology: The Truth Rundown |date=June 21, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209040134/http://www.tampabay.com/news/article1012148.ece |archive-date=9 February 2013}}

|3=

{{cite web |url=https://www.tampabay.com/special-reports/2019/10/17/the-truth-rundown-part-2-of-3-death-in-slow-motion/ |title=The Truth Rundown, Part 2 — Death in slow motion |date=June 22, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024004252/https://www.tampabay.com/special-reports/2019/10/17/the-truth-rundown-part-2-of-3-death-in-slow-motion/ |archive-date=October 24, 2019}}

|4=

{{cite web |url=https://www.tampabay.com/special-reports/2019/10/17/the-truth-rundown-part-3-of-3-ecclesiastical-justice/ |title=The Truth Rundown, Part 3 — Ecclesiastical justice |date=June 23, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809103436/http://www.tampabay.com/news/scientology/article1012575.ece |archive-date=August 9, 2009}}

}}