The Florida Association of Broadcast Journalist Awards were handed out earlier this month and something doesn’t seem quite right.

WINK (Ft. Myers) Reporter, Anchor, and Photojournalist (according to his work bio) Michael Hudak took to Twitter to brag about winning a couple of awards.

But here is where it gets a bit odd.

If you go to the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists and look at the award winners, you don’t see Hudak’s name listed under the winners. I couldn’t even find his name under the “finalist” either.

A source tells FTVLive that Hudak was disqualified because his entries contained a story he covered in mid-January 2022.

FABJ’s rules are pretty clear, entries must air between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021.

Hudak “won” Best Breaking News Individual (according to the picture from FABJ) for the January Tornado that hit SWFL on Jan 16, 2022. His “Finalist” award for best individual Reporting included that same clip.

I know that for some reason, many Journalists feel the need to spend money to try and win awards, to put on a shelf and collect dust.

But, I think it should be equally important to follow the rules when it comes to the qualifications of the awards being handed out.

Just saying…