South Bend Tribune sports journalists Mike Berardino and Tom Noie took home top honors from the Associated Press of Sports Editors for their work covering the domestic terrorist attack on New Years Day 2025 in New Orleans, while staff photographer Michael Clubb won honors for best action photo.
Berardino and Noie won the Division C event coverage category, as announced by the APSE Thursday, May 7. Division C covers smaller to mid-sized papers that are part of the organization. They received five of the six first-place votes in the category.
Clubb won the Division C Action Photo category, which was announced Wednesday, May 13.
Berardino, Noie honored for coverage of tragedy
Berardino and Noie were in New Orleans ahead of Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff quarterfinal game against Georgia. The game was scheduled to be played on New Years Day, but tragedy struck overnight when a man drove his car into the heart of Bourbon Street. Fifteen people were killed and 57 injured in the mass casualty event. The act was later deemed a domestic terrorist attack.
Both Noie and Berardino were quick to act with their coverage. Noie wrote an instant column from his hotel after waking up and realizing what had happened. Berardino went to the scheduled Mass before the game and captured compelling videos and stories from the event.
Once it was safe to walk around the streets again, Noie headed toward the Superdome, where the game that was supposed to be played that night had been postponed for a day. His story talking to fans who had gathered outside the stadium did a tremendous job of capturing the emotions of the day.
Both gentlemen then covered the game the following day, turning out excellent coverage from an emotional 48 hours for all involved.
“I am proud to see the work that Mike and Tom did that day be recognized in this way,” South Bend Tribune sports editor Austin Hough said. “Covering an event like that is very difficult, but they did a tremendous job of painting a picture of what that day looked like for those living it in-person. The work they did on one of their hardest days of their careers should be commended.”
Berardino, Noie and former WNDU sports coordinator Jackson Neill also placed in the top 10 of Class C/D podcasts for their “Pod of Gold” podcast done throughout the 2025 Notre Dame football season.
Clubb’s high-flying day earns him APSE
There’s no doubt that one of the top annual local events on the calendar every summer is the RedBud Pro Motocross National. Tens of thousands of people visit Buchanan, Michigan, over July 4th weekend for one of the biggest pro motocross races in the world.
Clubb captured one of the thrills of the event to perfection, with rider Chase Sexton flying through the air while a helicopter hovered in the sky in the background of the frame. The photo beat out nine other finalists in the category.
Here is the winning photo:
“Michael has done great work since joining the Tribune two years ago, and this award is validation of that,” Hough said. “Always finding different and interesting ways to photograph an event, Michael has continued on the great tradition of elite photography that readers of the South Bend Tribune have come to expect over the years.”
Clubb was also a finalist in the Class C feature photo category.
Berardino, Noie and Clubb will be recognized at the 2026 APSE Summer Conference banquet July 18 in Arlington, Virginia.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Tribune journalists win APSE honors for coverage, photography
Reporting by Austin Hough, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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