Entertainment Arts & to tirelessly report on years two and three of the coronavirus pandemic, picking up a National Headliner Award with her colleagues for a story on vaccine inequity in the Americas. As other U.S. newspapers scale back their international operations, Charles plays a vital, almost singu- lar, role in covering political instability, natural disasters, healthcare inequities and systemic breakdowns of governments in the region. “When most people think about the Caribbean, they’re thinking about travel and tourism and beaches,” she told the Longform podcast. “...For citizens, the diaspora of these countries, what’s happening at home is very important to them, so that’s something I’m looking at.” BES T HER ALD PHOTOGRAPHER Daniel A. Varela The old adage goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” and no one understands that more deeply than a photojournalist. Whether it’s a protest, a sporting event, a pa- rade, or anything in between, Miami Herald photographer Daniel A. Varela is on the job. His photos are as compelling as they are beautiful to look at. Not only does he capture the moment, but he captures the right mo- ment — like the smile of a bystander at a Pride parade who doesn’t know anyone’s watching, or the concentration of tennis su- perstar Naomi Osaka at the Miami Open. Va- rela started his career with the Herald as an intern, moved on to a role as a freelance pho- tographer and eventually, in 2019, a full-time staff photographer. No one said it was easy — though Varela often makes it look that way. BES T T V NEWS ANCHOR Calvin Hughes LOCAL 10 (WPLG-TV CHANNEL 10) LOCAL10.COM @CALVINLOCAL10 (TWITTER) Calvin Hughes was a TV anchor in Philadelphia when he got the call that WPLG was looking to replace legendary local broadcaster Dwight Lauderdale. He accepted the job, envisioning his time in Miami as a two- or three-year stint. Instead, he’s been telling the stories of South Floridians for more than 16 trips around the sun. During that tenure, the five-time Emmy Award winner has become a fixture in the community, reporting on the biggest news events to affect the Miami area and beyond. Last year, Hughes scored an exclusive interview with Martine Moïse, the widow of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse, who was assassinated when a group of gunmen raided the couple’s home in July 2021. Martine, who was shot multiple times during the attack, told Hughes that, in her state of grief and shock, she went a week without sleeping or eating while in the hospital recovering. Those are the kinds of intimate revelations Hughes, an empathetic listener and skilled interviewer, is deftly able to capture for the viewers back home, week after week after week. BES T METE OROLOGIS T Brian McNoldy UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI ROSENSTIEL SCHOOL OF MARINE & ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE BMCNOLDY.BLOGSPOT.COM If you’ve spent any amount of time in Miami during hurricane season, chances are you’ve heard or seen the name Brian McNoldy. A senior research associate at the University of Miami who studies hurricanes, climatol- ogy, and sea-level rise, McNoldy is Miami’s de facto hurricane expert, long relied upon by the press and public for insight in the face of oncoming tropical storms. His fasci- nation with weather began at age 7 with the Megapolitan Blizzard of 1983 and since the late ’90s he has maintained a Blogspot site, Tropical Atlantic Update, where he pro- vides context-rich updates in a digestible and engaging way. He’s perhaps best known for regularly sharing interesting climatol- ogy facts and keeping Miamians updated on the weather via Twitter @BMcNoldy. EVA BLANCO / EYEEM / GETT Y IMAGES BES T RADIO S TATION 104.3 The Shark (WSFS-FM) AUDACY.COM/1043THESHARK Remember 2015? It was a strange year for local music thanks to one massive void. WZTA – the area’s only alternative station – disappeared in February of that year and, for six long months, rock lovers had nowhere to tune. Then an angel arrived, in the form of 104.3 FM “The Shark.” Seven years in, the Shark has become a Miami rock mainstay, with weekly shindigs like Emo Nite and Alternalido (Latin jams) on Sundays and loveable weekday deejays like Ashley O and Dallas making miserable South Florida traffic 20 20 JUNE 23-29, 2022 JUNE 23-29, 2022 NEW TIMES NEW TIMES BEST OF MIAMI® 2022 BEST OF MIAMI® 2022 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com
