Tampa Bay Times reporter Tracey McManus was awarded the Lucy Morgan Award for Open Government Reporting on Saturday while two other Times reporters were named finalists.

The award is given by the First Amendment Foundation, an open records and free speech nonprofit, and is named after the Pulitzer Prize-winning Times journalist who died in September at age 82. First bestowed in 2017, the prize is given to “a Florida journalist whose exemplary use of public records strengthens the public interest by exposing corruption and government conflicts,” according to the foundation.

McManus began covering the city of Clearwater and the Church of Scientology in 2015, and has since reported stories about the organization’s growing control over downtown Clearwater.

Among her stories that the award recognized was one where McManus obtained dozens of county records to show how Scientologists recruited a developer as the public face of a real estate project to obscure the church’s role. In another, she scoured campaign finance records to trace money from former state Sen. Jack Latvala’s political committee to the businesses he runs with his son.

“I really believe local news is key to a functioning society, and it’s more important now than ever,” McManus said. “I’m grateful for the chance to do local journalism alongside such talented reporters, editors, photographers and other colleagues who all work to inform our community every day.”

In March, McManus won the Times newsroom’s first ever Lucy Morgan Prize to honor journalists “who made a difference — either in our community or inside the Times.”

“Tracey has managed to corner the market on the Lucy Morgan prizes, and there is no one more deserving,” said Times Editor Mark Katches. “She is relentless, diligent, fair and absolutely fearless — all qualities that the legendary namesake possessed. As a beat reporter, she sets the standard.”

McManus accepted the award in Tallahassee at the Florida State University College of Law Rotunda from Carol Marbin Miller, who organized the contest and is the Miami Herald’s deputy investigations editor.

“I knew Lucy very well, and her courage —her boldness — is one of the things that we’ll all remember about her forever,” Marbin Miller said. “In that spirit, I think Tracy McManus earns this award.”

Times reporters made up three of the top five finalists for this year’s award — McManus, Tallahassee correspondent Lawrence Mower and health reporter Christopher O’Donnell were up for the prize. McManus also beat out The Villages Daily Sun, whose submission was chosen this year as a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

This is the second time Times journalists have won the foundation’s prize. In 2018, Times reporters Kathleen McGrory and Neil Bedi won the Lucy Morgan Award for Heartbroken, which investigated a rise in mortality rates at St. Petersburg’s All Children’s Hospital after Johns Hopkins took over its heart surgery wing.

Before her 20-year stint as the Times’ Tallahassee bureau chief, Morgan built a reputation as a feared and respected reporter, exposing corruption in the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office and investigating a $50 million interstate mortgage scheme.