Natick, Mass. — Karen Florin, a reporter at The Day, on Thursday was awarded the AP Sevellon Brown Journalist of the Year Award by the New England Society of News Editors at the annual New England Newspaper Conference awards luncheon held at the Crowne Plaza.

The award "recognizes an individual for producing journalism of distinction in New England this past year." Sevellon Brown was an editor and publisher of the Providence Journal and the founder of the American Press Institute.

Florin's entry was a podcast on the cold case of Desiree Michaud, whose 1984 murder in Groton remains unsolved.

Florin joined The Day in 1994 and has covered the court system for 12 years. Her court coverage has won several regional awards. She is the co-chairwoman of the state's Judicial Media Committee, a group of judges and journalists who deal with such issues as access and transparency. She also is the co-chairwoman of the committee's events subcommittee, which annually puts on either a Journalism for Judges Program or a Law School for Journalists program.

The Day also was recognized as a Distinguished Newspaper in its circulation category.