Miami Herald wins two Suncoast Emmy Awards for ‘Inside the COVID Unit’
The Miami Herald and McClatchy, its parent company, won two Suncoast Regional Emmy Awards over the weekend for “Inside the COVID Unit” — a five-part documentary series that tells the stories of front-line workers, their patients and their families inside one small community hospital in Miami-Dade County as they battled COVID-19 last year.
The awards recognize excellence in the television market of Florida and other southern states.
The first award won was in the category of Human Interest — Long Form Content for Episode 2: “Heroes,” where visual journalist Reshma Kirpalani reported how video chats between Jackson South patients and their family members offered little respite from COVID fears.
The second award won was in the category of Health/Medical — Long Form Content for Episode 5: “The Surge,” where Kirpalani documented how the summer surge hit the hospital as COVID took aim on the staff’s families.
The documentary was directed by Kirpalani, with production help from Trevin Smith, editing assistance from Miami Herald editor Amy Driscoll and graphics by Sohail Al-Jamea, all of McClatchy. The executive producers on the project are Marta Oliver Craviotto of the Miami Herald and Jason Shoultz of McClatchy.
Kirpalani is a 12-time Lone Star Emmy award-winning journalist who joined McClatchy in 2018, producing a documentary about the U.S. Senate race between Beto O’Rourke and Ted Cruz — the closest race in Texas in 40 years. In South Florida, she helped the Herald cover the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kirpalani, now a freelancer, said in an email she is grateful the work was recognized.
“(I am) so grateful to Dr. Andrew Pastewski, Julio Valido and their families who took time to share their stories with me, even while they were overwhelmed by a worldwide pandemic. I also appreciate Mrs. Washington, who lost both her husband and her son to COVID-19. Although she was grieving the loss of half of her family, she recognized the importance of sharing her story and found the strength to do so,” she continued.
“The documentary series would not have been possible without Jackson Health System, who granted me extraordinary access inside the COVID unit during the height of the pandemic, and all of my supportive colleagues at the Miami Herald,” she noted.
Kirpalani added that it was one of the most important stories of our lifetimes.
“And it is the courage, patience and vulnerability of Dr. Pastewski, Mr. Valido and Mrs. Washington that places the audience at the front lines of this pandemic from the safety of their homes. In the end, I hope viewers witness that though only a few of the battles were won, all of the fighters were resilient,” she said.
