To protect and serve the common interests of its newsmedia members, to help members inform and thereby strengthen their communities, and to foster the highest ideals, ethics and traditions of journalism, a free press and the news profession.
The table below displays the 2018 California Journalism Awards Campus Contest winners sorted by category.
The table is sortable by the column headers (Publication, Award, Category, Entry Title, Credit and Judge’s Comments) but you probably want to zero in on your own publication. The easiest way to do that is to use the search box to type in the name of your publication.
A search will begin as soon as you start typing in the box. The more specific you are, the faster you’ll find your results.
First-place and second-place plaques were presented at the 2018 California Journalism Awards Luncheon on Saturday, May 4 at The Westin Long Beach. If no one from your publication was present to receive your plaque, we will ship it to you.
Certificates will be mailed to all other finalists in each category.
| Category | Award | Organization | Entry Title | Credits | Judge's Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Excellence | 1st | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | 2/20/2018 & 2/21/2018 | Kyle Bender, Sarah El-Mahmoud | If I were a student I would read this paper. Very impressive. Smart story selection. Nice combination of on- and off-campus news. Stories are reported and edited well. The design is very clean. Nice use of photos. |
| General Excellence | 2nd | Santa Clara University-The Santa Clara | 11/1/2018 & 11/8/2018 | The Santa Clara | Smart, aggressive coverage of a contentious topic, not only through the article but also related opinion pieces. Overall presentation, story selection and layout are excellent. Sports section is impressive with nice use of photos. Headlines are catchy without being juvenile. |
| General Excellence | 3rd | CSU Long Beach-Daily 49er | 5/7/2018 & 5/9/2018 | Daily 49er Staff | Nice work. The Staff clearly is in touch with what students are interested in and recognize news when they see it (The Big Event). Couple of minor issues to keep an eye on, such as spelling errors and wrong words (peak vs. peek). Really nice use of photos for the volleyball team championship. Overall job well done. |
| General Excellence | 4th | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | 2/20/2018 & 2/22/2018 | Harini Shyamsundar, Karim Doumar | Dedicating an entire issue to a topic as serious and as relevant as sexual assault is an undertaking, and the Staff clearly knew what they were doing. Intelligent pieces that answer the "why should I care" question. The second issue demonstrates a nice blend of local and campus-focused reporting. Clean headlines and consistent style. |
| General Excellence | 5th | CSU Chico-The Orion | 11/28/2018 & 12/5/2018 | Natalie Hanson, Christian Solis, Alex Grant, Josh Cozine | Very impressive work to not only cover a tragedy but to also focus on how the Camp Fire affected the campus community and students. Nice use of photos. Layout could be stronger. Be careful not to overwhelm readers; sometimes fewer stories that are more well-developed is a better option than trying to cover everything. |
| General Excellence | 1st | City College of San Francisco-The Guardsman | 11/6/2018 & 11/28/2018 | The Guardsman Staff | Interesting graphics, modern layout. Solid writing, good reporting. |
| General Excellence | 2nd | Orange Coast College-Coast Report | 10/17/2018 & 10/31/2018 | Coast Report Staff | Very clean throughout. Conservative, but professional approach. |
| General Excellence | 3rd | Santa Monica College-Corsair | 11/20/2018 & 12/4/2018 | Corsair Staff | Not afraid to tackle big issues. Could have tied to campus a bit more. |
| General Excellence | 4th | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | 2/14/2018 & 2/28/2018 | The Advocate Staff | Solid throughout. |
| General Excellence | 5th | Santa Ana College-el Don | 10/29/2018 & 12/10/2018 | Lizeth Fuentes, Jason Solares, Nikki Nelsen, Diego Devia | Taking chances can work — and can fail. A little of both here. |
| General Excellence | 1st | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | 3/2018 & 4/2018 | The Gazette Staff | An excellent newspaper, full of information and great headlines, graphics and advertising. As a school newspaper, this paper covers a wide range of topics. Good job! |
| General Excellence | 2nd | Harvard-Westlake School-The Chronicle | 3/21/2018 & 4/25/2018 | Danielle Spitz, Josie Abugov | Excellent newspaper, with large photos, compelling layouts and excellent graphics. Loved the Spring Into Action graphic and Q&A Sports feature with the large photo. Not a fan that every page seemed to be a section front. |
| General Excellence | 3rd | Archbishop Riordan High School-The Crusader | 10/2018 & 12/2018 | Owen Murphy | Layouts are all horizontal, need some vertical elements on the page. Layouts on some pages confusing, especially when stories are broken by placement of photographs. Good writing and excellent headlines, especially "Abundance of freshmen creates deficits of desks." Publication covers school, local, regional and national news and all the sports, NFL, NBA, MLB, one wonders if students/readers needed this information in a school newspaper, or could they have learned about the Warriors' NBA titles somewhere else. |
| General Excellence | 4th | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | 10/5/2018 & 10/26/2018 | The Olympian Staff | Solid opinion pages, lots of views from students. But Opinion pages on Oct. 26, 2018 edition are Pages 4, 5 and 8 — weird. Put them together. Also in that edition, there are three photos pages without page numbers. Overall, good mix of stories, good editorials, layout, headlines and excellent use of photos. Loved the Lunt story with photo, nicely written. |
| General Excellence | 5th | Sanger High School - Hi-Lights | 4/26/2018 & 5/24/2018 | Von Balanon, Moises Buitrago, Berenice Vargas, Celyssa Aguilar | Lots of information, good end-of-year graduation issue. Layout is good, plenty of graphics and neat story ideas, but overall the writing should be sharper, less repetitive with more focus on writing sharper, better and shorter ledes. The athlete of the month features is a good idea, but there's no sense in asking a question and then having the athlete repeat part of it in their answer. Should be rewritten. Loved the Life of a pilot feature and graphic, very strong. |
| Writing | 1st | UCLA-Daily Bruin | Survival | Kristie-Valerie Hoang | This is a beautifully written story with a vivid and compelling lede. This could easily have become an anecdotal piece based on a few people's accounts of their cultural identity, but figures are woven in throughout to support the narrative. Those supporting figures never interrupt the storytelling, but bolster it briefly then get out of the way in favor of a character-driven narrative. |
| Writing | 2nd | Santa Clara University-The Santa Clara | Juuls at School are Smokin’ | Kimi Andrew | A compelling lede uses a real story from a regular person on the street. The story is packed with facts and figures quotations from experts, very information-rich, but the best part is the observations of campus life and interviews with regular students. This helps keep the story interesting, such as the student reselling e-cigarettes, which diverges from the predictable smoking-is-bad-for-you script. |
| Writing | 3rd | San Diego State University-The Daily Aztec | Greeks need to get it together | Daily Aztec Editorial Board | This is a persuasive and compelling opinion piece. The writers are specific and clear, and every sentence conveys something clear and substantive. They've done significant reporting, too, and cite Greek Life misconduct on other campuses as well. The authors are not afraid to be bold and say exactly what they mean. |
| Writing | 4th | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | Titans quietly suspend player accused of domestic violence | Harrison Faigen | This is a deeply reported and well constructed story. The writing goes point by point through the evidence the reporter gathered, explaining decisions along the way—like why a domestic violence victim's name is included, and how administrators pointed them directly to the text of a law—to the reader. The story answers the questions a reader would have, clearly and precisely. |
| Writing | 5th | San Diego State University-The Daily Aztec | Port of entry closure threatens SDSU's transborder commuters | Daniel Guerrero, David Santillan | This story opens with a powerful lede, then picks up the story of an individual to illustrate a story that affects more people. |
| Writing | 1st | Santa Rosa Junior College-The Oak Leaf | Book by book: Rebuilding a post-fire identity | Lauren A. Spates | Excellent read. The topic was compelling, but it was framed in an interesting, unique way that captured the reader's attention. The story was not overwritten, which is a danger with stories that carry a level of emotion or trauma. Instead, it was measured but had solid details with strong organization. Well done. |
| Writing | 2nd | Orange Coast College-Coast Report | Life is a gamble | Kassidy Dillon | Strong piece of writing. The entry point was interesting, drawing the reader in. The details add to the compelling nature of the story, interwoven with reaction from those affected. |
| Writing | 3rd | Santa Rosa Junior College-The Oak Leaf | Rise and grind: The student-athlete hustle | Isaiah Cappelen | This was a solid job, looking at the daily grind for student-athletes. The organization was strong, with effective use of language and strong quotes. |
| Writing | 4th | Santa Ana College-el Don | Loss of Custodial Staff Result in Heavier Workload | Marta Konorska | I enjoyed this read. The lead was strong, drawing readers in and, also, highlighting the impacts of the decision. Overall, the writer put a face on the issue in a compelling way, using solid organization that ensured a smooth flow. |
| Writing | 5th | Santa Rosa Junior College-The Oak Leaf | Finding tranquility in chaos | Lauren A. Spates | This was a good read, looking at the impacts on mental health and students in the aftermath of a wildfire. While overwritten at times, the overall structure and organization was good. Insights from those affected was presented in a compelling way alongside data and statistics. |
| Writing | 1st | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Athletes upset with unprompted retribution | Akhil Shah | Well researched. Glad to see comments from both sides of the issue, allowing admin to share its side. Well written. |
| Writing | 2nd | Archbishop Riordan High School-The Crusader | History Bowl team makes history with trip to nationals | Roman Peregrino | Love the nod to history and tradition. Well written. |
| Writing | 3rd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Administration seeks new discipline method | Elliott Hyman | Very well researched. Buried the lead a bit with restorative justice being that low, but well written and well researched. |
| Writing | 4th | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | Trojans oppose Trump on birthright citizenship | Brittany Bin | Good reporting on an national issue localized. A great basis for community journalism. |
| Writing | 5th | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | "Four Men in Paris" wows audiences | Talaya Francois | interesting, well thought-out review of performance brushing on important topic. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 1st | UCLA-Daily Bruin | Declined Help, Declining Health | Teddy Rosenbluth | Comprehensive story that utilizes graphics, photos, pull outs to keep the reader engaged. Well rounded reporting looking at the issue from 360 degrees. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 2nd | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | Contaminated groundwater under OC | Daniel Inga, Tyrah Majors, Wendy Chavez | Good job bringing to light a serious issue that could affect quality of life among the student population. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 3rd | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | Many Fullerton restaurants violate health codes | Tatiana Diaz, Omar Sanchez, Jacob Tatham, Kristine Janarilla | Detailed research provides key look at the issue. Would have scored higher with customer voices. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 4th | CSU Long Beach-Daily 49er | CSULB continues to grapple with identity crisis | Kat Schuster | Interesting topic with a good graphic illustrating the confusion. Good use of official comments as well as student voices. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 5th | Sonoma State University-Sonoma State Star | Rise in Campus Rapes, But Not in Warnings | Braden Cartwright | Story does a good job shedding light on a serious topic. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 1st | El Camino College-The Union | 13 percent of EC students are homeless | Jose Tobar | By telling the story of homeless students so well, the journalists gave voice to an often overlooked segment of students. By mixing excellent portraits with information on the causes and economics of homelessness, this is an informative and human look at a very real problem. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 2nd | Santa Rosa Junior College-The Oak Leaf | School’s out for summer: admin cuts summer courses | Brandon McCapes, Rachel Edelstein, Seamus Reed, The Oak Leaf Staff | Comprehensive coverage of proposed course cuts. Each story equally strong with excellent info on the impact the cuts would have on student. Great use of quotes. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 3rd | Glendale College-El Vaquero | Some Call for Extended DSPS Services | Kenya Barboza | Balanced, incisive coverage of the lack of resources for students, with clear evidence that this is a budgetary issue. Great example of how hard work by journalists can illuminate a problem and, it is hoped, lead to solutions. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 4th | San Diego City College-City Times | Blackout Coverage | Brian Mohler | Excellent sustained coverage of ongoing blackouts. Great sourcing with engaging details of the blackouts. Clear, clever writing. A pleasure to read. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 5th | Glendale College-El Vaquero | America's Hate Problem | Marian Sahakyan | Excellent example of how local reporting can be used to illuminate a national trend, in this case anti-semitism. A very real and heartfelt examination. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 1st | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Doug Mason resigns | Spencer Cova | Excellent hard news feature and watch dog reporting. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 2nd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | FBLA group ousted from state event | Max Schwartz | |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 3rd | Archbishop Riordan High School-The Crusader | Climate change debate continues to heat up | Fabian Aguilar | Reporting and writing about climate change is complex. Good job tackling such a difficult issue to explain to mass audiences. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 4th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | March for our Lives | Sidney Zabell | |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 5th | Archbishop Riordan High School-The Crusader | Smoke saturates San Francisco skies | Harrick Wu | |
| Profile Story | 1st | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | The people of People’s Park | Malini Ramaiyer, Miles Brown, Luz Rioja, Ian MacGregor | Obviously a lot of time went into this profile of a public space and "its people." Descriptions and details humanizes the subjects. Timely and relevant, videos add another dimension. |
| Profile Story | 2nd | Santa Clara University-The Santa Clara | Senior Soloist in the Spotlight | Erin Fox | Well-written, nice hook. Well-rounded depiction of the subject as a complete person. |
| Profile Story | 3rd | Claremont Colleges-The Student Life | From Walk-On To National Champion: Tyra Abraham On Her Running Career That Almost Wasn’t | Torrey Hart | Very tight concise, the definition of a well-written profile. |
| Profile Story | 4th | Santa Clara University-The Santa Clara | The Man with the Golden Voice | Jimmy Flynn | Good story, well written, could be shorter. A look at a rather unusual career path. |
| Profile Story | 5th | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | Wayne Arnold motivated by family | Harrison Faigen | Good, nice hook. Could be tightened up a little. |
| Profile Story | 1st | San Diego City College-City Times | Undocumented students share success stories | Brian Mohler | Relevant, focused and strong writing, offering a unique chance to hear the voices of a population we don't hear often, putting a human face on a national issue. |
| Profile Story | 2nd | Santa Rosa Junior College-The Oak Leaf | “All that education for nothing”: One reporter recounts his path to the Pulitzer | Lauren A. Spates | Well-shaped and engaging storytelling about a journalist's how and why. |
| Profile Story | 3rd | Santa Rosa Junior College-The Oak Leaf | Daisy Garnica: A real life phoenix | Dakota McGranahan | An extremely revealing and vulnerable look into a student's challenges with mental health and dealing with great loss from the wildfire. The writer told her story with care. The photos were also beautiful. |
| Profile Story | 4th | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | Despite prejudice, transwoman shines pride, confidence | Anthony Kinney | The writer offers a rare and compellingly written glimpse into the life of a young trans woman. |
| Profile Story | 5th | El Camino College-The Union | For this EC freshman, the sky is the limit, and her journey is just getting started | Melanie Chacon | Descriptive and detailed profile of a young athlete that paints a vivid picture of both her personality and drive. The photos were fantastic. |
| Profile Story | 1st | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | Lunt kicks through gender barriers | Ria Panjwani | LOVE this story, very unique angle and the lede is great. The quotes are great and incorporate a lot of the nuances of females playing male-dominated sports. |
| Profile Story | 2nd | Archbishop Riordan High School-The Crusader | Remembering Giants legend Willie ‘Stretch’ McCovey | Steven Rissotto | Much better job with the lede than on the Aretha Franklin one. Tells me right away why I should care that this person died. I also like that you added quotes from someone who knew Willie, really adds to story. |
| Profile Story | 3rd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Student shines in Russia | Mia Taylor | Good quotes and interesting story, especially like the quote you end with. Lede could be a bit better. It's vague and doesn't tell me what the climber's newfound passion is. |
| Profile Story | 4th | Archbishop Riordan High School-The Crusader | Crusader brothers band together to support classmate | Steven Rissotto | The story is really interesting. Would have liked to hear from more people other than Blanchard. Lede could be improved. For profiles, start with the most interesting aspect of the story. In this instance, that would be the loud crack when Blanchard became paralyzed. |
| Profile Story | 5th | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | Research-scientist-turned-teacher Dr. Deborah Yager retires | Jenny Pham | Story doesn't mention that she's retiring until very end of the article. If that's what this story is supposed to be about, needs to be the lede. Lots of more interesting information about Yager at the end of the story that would have been better to have at the beginning. |
| Columns | 1st | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | Sex on Tuesday | Rizza Estacio | The writer tackles topics that are often difficult to talk about. She is able to engage and reel in readers through her bold writing. I like her honest approach and how she incorporates her personal experiences to put the spotlight on relevant issues. She sheds light on topics and is able to give readers her viewpoint without lecturing to them about what is right or wrong. |
| Columns | 2nd | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | Document This | Gladys Torres Avalos | The writer provided new insight into a topic that has been widely debated in recent months. I like that she wrote about her personal experiences and refrained from "lecturing" readers on how they should feel. Nice storytelling qualities. |
| Columns | 3rd | UCLA-Daily Bruin | Are you there, UCLA? It's me, Mom | Mariah Furtek | The writer concisely lays out the issues and solutions while engaging readers through a mix of student stories and facts and figures. She sheds light on topics that are relevant, timely and probably wouldn't otherwise be discussed if not for her column. Nice job! |
| Columns | 4th | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | The Person Inside | Hari Srinivasan | Nice job on giving readers a look at what it's like to be a nonverbal autistic student and the daily challenges you encounter. The columns exposed me to something I didn't know much about, but were written in way that made your experiences something that others can probably relate to when experiencing their own challenges. |
| Columns | 5th | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | White Supremacy / America lacks true perspective | Brandon Angel | Nice job weaving together facts and good writing to engage readers while making your point. |
| Columns | 1st | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | Robert Clinton columns | Robert Clinton | Strong voice. Good use of anaphora. Writer is personal and persuasive. I felt like he and I were having a conversation. |
| Columns | 2nd | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | Alondra Gallardo columns | Alondra Gallardo | Strong voice. Poses a problem, then offers a solution. Writer gives readers a way to get involved with the solution, and not continue to be part of the problem. |
| Columns | 3rd | Santa Barbara City College-The Channels | Our district sustainability plan is not enough—we can do better | Daniel Wallace | Good use of sources and statistics to bolster opinion. Strong voice. Call to action is clear and relevant. |
| Columns | 4th | Santa Rosa Junior College-The Oak Leaf | Michael T. Barnes columns | Michael T. Barnes | Writer clearly has done his research and his opinions are fact-based. Short, succinct paragraphs entice the reader. |
| Columns | 5th | Santa Barbara City College-The Channels | The local “Straw Ban” isn’t helpful, here’s what could be | Daniel Wallace | Writer points out the bigger issue in the rise of pollution. Good combination of sentence lengths. Excellent use of sources. |
| Columns | 1st | Archbishop Riordan High School-The Crusader | Vanuska’s View | Karl Vanuska | Thoughtful, well-developed arguments on topics relevant to students. |
| Columns | 2nd | Sanger High School - Hi-Lights | District splurges $15,000 despite budget cuts/Redefining the infamous f-word | Emily Hartsell | |
| Columns | 3rd | Eastside College Prep - The Eastside Panther | Less sympathy, more empathy; What's the key to holiday cheer? Donuts! | Rayshaun Jordan | |
| Columns | 4th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Toxic Masculinity & Long-term friendships | Cori Caplinger | |
| Columns | 5th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | People are lacking ... & Your personal space may | Sarah Withrow | |
| Sports Game Story | 1st | UCLA-Daily Bruin | Beach volleyball defeats Florida State, gains program’s first NCAA title | Joy Hong | |
| Sports Game Story | 2nd | CSU Bakersfield-The Runner | CSUB loses five straight, stumbles in conference | Vincent Perez | I like how the writer makes the most of a losing season. Good intrigue with the suspended player. |
| Sports Game Story | 3rd | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | All heroes on deck: Analyzing Cal football’s bowl chances with 5 weeks remaining | Josh Yuen | |
| Sports Game Story | 4th | Claremont Colleges-The Student Life | Red-Hot Scarlett Scores 32 As CMS Men’s Basketball Outduels Sagehens | Kellen Browning | |
| Sports Game Story | 5th | CSU Long Beach-Daily 49er | 49ers win first national championship in 20 years | Zackary Handy | |
| Sports Game Story | 1st | El Camino College-The Union | Football team advances to playoffs | Justin Bell | Great job on recreating the drama of the game. Summary of the game and the preview of the championship was well done. |
| Sports Game Story | 2nd | Santa Ana College-el Don | Dons Lose to Santa Monica 2-1 | Diego Devia | Good job of setting the scene and keeping the pacing of the story tight. |
| Sports Game Story | 3rd | El Camino College-The Union | Warriors hold off Seahawks for first win of the season | Justin Bell | Interesting lead that helped set a mood for the story. |
| Sports Game Story | 4th | Santa Barbara City College-The Channels | Vaqueros baseball team defeated in gut-wrenching home game | Jack Davies | Summary of the game was descriptive and well done. |
| Sports Game Story | 5th | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | Fire, smoke jeopardize shot at BVC championship | Efrain Valdez | Good job of blending sports and news and giving reader a sense of the teams' frustrations. |
| News Photo | 1st | UCLA-Daily Bruin | Undergraduate student government election results | Amy Dixon | Strong composition, captures the moment and tells a story — hallmarks of great news photography. It also conveys emotion, and the joy and elation are contagious. Minor flaws: the light is a little bright, and it would be good to crop the left side to eliminate the green arm and the random hand. Great shot! |
| News Photo | 2nd | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | Wildfire devastation envelopes state | Joshua Arief Halim | Powerful mood. Great creative way to tell this story visually, standing behind the woman surveying the scene. This photograph captures both the scope of the devastation, and the intimacy of the story and conveys emotion that stays with the viewer. I found myself remembering this shot for quite a while. Good framing and balance in composition. Technically solid. |
| News Photo | 3rd | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | Anti-Marxism protest returns to Berkeley after last year’s violence, ignites tensions among demonstrators | Amanda Ramirez | This photograph makes you want to keep looking — a good example of strong storytelling. Technically, it's a little too dark on the right side. One concern — as a stand-alone shot, does this photograph correctly capture the event as described in the story? I'm afraid not. I saw that this is one in a package of photographs, so that's OK, and the photo itself is definitely strong. But if it were to stand alone, it would be misleading, so editors need to be careful where and how the photo is played in print or online. |
| News Photo | 4th | UCLA-Daily Bruin | Wednesday’s demonstration outside Royce Hall supported activist Ahed Tamimi | MacKenzie Coffman | Beautiful composition, beautiful light, artistic. Conveys the basic information related to the event, but doesn't capture a lot of energy, which detracts from the impact of the shot. |
| News Photo | 5th | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | Chancellor Carol Christ speaks about diversity at ASUC Senate meeting | Allen Zeng | Good informative shot, taking an unusual angle on the event. Photographer made a wise choice to focus on the audience, which allows reader to take in the diversity of the group. (Package should include at least a mug shot of the chancellor, though, since we want to see her face, too.) |
| News Photo | 1st | Santa Barbara City College-The Channels | Channels photographer evacuates from Woolsey Fire | Nate Stephenson | An excellent composition that captures the wildfire scene's intensity -the firefighter appears to be walking into hell. I also admire the lighting and color composition. The best in show. |
| News Photo | 2nd | El Camino College-The Union | Budding space engineer | Jack Kan | The girl's facial expression says it all, I cracked up when I saw her. Great work in including the serviceman guiding her, which shows this is not your typical rocket launch. |
| News Photo | 3rd | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | Grief, outrage follow police homicide of Stephon Clark | Denis Perez | Excellent cropping and overall composition that portray the scene's drama. This is one of the best shots of Stevante Clark I've seen. |
| News Photo | 4th | Santa Barbara City College-The Channels | Channels photographer evacuates from Woolsey Fire | Nate Stephenson | A great composition that appears to be a still from a feature film. The landscape's placement is a fine backdrop to the subject. Professional quality. |
| News Photo | 5th | El Camino College-The Union | Displaced again | Miyung Kim | 1st-class work in portraying the homeless situation's desperation and misery. It's an unforgettable sight. |
| News Photo | 1st | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Shocked after crash — Every 15 Minutes event | Sidney Zabell | Powerful image. Captures all the emotions. |
| News Photo | 2nd | Eastside College Prep - The Eastside Panther | #Enough is enough | Vannesa Gurrola | Great image. Tells the story. Gets to the heart of the event. |
| News Photo | 3rd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Victim DOA — Every 15 Minutes event | Sidney Zabell | Compelling image. Grabs the viewers. |
| News Photo | 4th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Emergency Airlift — Every 15 Minutes event | Sydney Sewell | A strong photo that captures lots of action and reaction. Solid news image. |
| News Photo | 5th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Homecoming royalty (dominant middle image) | Shreya Dodballapur | Captures the energy, color and excitement of a campus news event. |
| Feature Photo | 1st | UCLA-Daily Bruin | Dia de los Muertos | Rachel Hefner | This photograph stopped me in my tracks — the shallow depth of field that resulted in the blurred background, the focused intensity of the subject, the color of the Dia de los Muertos makeup all combined to create an arresting image that demands a viewer's attention. A truly noteworthy effort. |
| Feature Photo | 2nd | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | Halloween inspires freaky festival | Sophia Acevedo | The whimsy of the lines of pumpkins, combined with the subtle, just-under-the-radar threat of possible Halloween horror for the visitors walking through the display, made this an especially effective image. Excellent use of leading lines. |
| Feature Photo | 3rd | Santa Clara University-The Santa Clara | Bollywood Beauties | Nick Kniveton | A fun, celebratory moment, with a shutter speed slow enough to allow just a bit of blurring to emphasize movement. The background color could have been jarring for some, but I thought it worked. |
| Feature Photo | 4th | UCLA-Daily Bruin | Actors perform alongside Japanese-inspired puppets in drama about family, memory | Niveda Tennety | This was the best of the performance/concert photographs — the lighting on the actor was perfect, and the fog suspended above the actor's head gave the image an ethereal, other-worldly quality that was quite powerful. The photographer captured an especially intense stage moment that put readers right in the theater's front row. |
| Feature Photo | 5th | Humboldt State University-The Lumberjack | A dancer's journey | Garrett Goodnight | I loved the way the photographer composed the image so that the dancer, in color, popped against a background that was intentionally chosen because it would appear to be in black and white. While I had some concerns that this photo might have been a better fit in the photo illustration category, it was extremely well executed. |
| Feature Photo | 1st | Santa Monica College-Corsair | A young child waits for his bus to leave a migrant shelter in Tijuana Mexico | Zane Meyer-Thornton | |
| Feature Photo | 2nd | Santa Barbara City College-The Channels | SBCC Competitive Programming Club helps & challenges students | Vanessa Martinez | |
| Feature Photo | 3rd | Santa Monica College-Corsair | Three teenage boys shout to draw attention to people cutting a line for supplies | Zane Meyer-Thornton | |
| Feature Photo | 4th | Santa Monica College-Corsair | Hollywood Boulevard Zombie walk | Oskar Zinnemann | |
| Feature Photo | 5th | Diablo Valley College-The Inquirer | Navigating the depths of Monterey Bay | Ethan Anderson | |
| Feature Photo | 1st | Sanger High School-Hi-Lights | Standing out in the crowd | Jose Soria | Jose Soria’s photo does a great job capturing an image that depicts the seriousness of the subject matter. |
| Feature Photo | 2nd | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | Swimming Sophomores | Talaya Francois | Pep rallies are meant to encourage school spirit and support members of a sports team and this photo captures the enthusiasm and support of the students wonderfully. Great emotion and action. |
| Feature Photo | 3rd | Sanger High School-Hi-Lights | Homecoming | Suriya Siriphoosit | Suriya Siriphoosit’s photo is a fun portrait of two photogenic subjects. |
| Feature Photo | 4th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Welcome through the window | Sidney Zabell | The expression on the subject’s face is great and draws the viewer’s attention, though, the composition does draw attention away from the smiling face and toward the text on her shirt and nametag. |
| Feature Photo | 5th | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | Seniors enjoy the limelight at the Welcome Back Assembly on August 31 | Natalie Costello | Great expressions and color, though a little lacking in the “action” department. Changing the angle would add drama and scale to the photo, depending on if it was shot from a high or low perspective. |
| Sports Action Photo | 1st | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | Cal men’s basketball loses to Washington State, falls to last place in Pac-12 | Joshua Jordan | Excellent action, focus and composition; a professional-quality shot. |
| Sports Action Photo | 2nd | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | Baseball takes down San Diego | Gabe Gandara | Good action, focus and composition. |
| Sports Action Photo | 3rd | Claremont Colleges-The Student Life | Pomona-Pitzer Men's Tennis victory | Chloe Ortiz | Good composition and emotion, captures the moment well. |
| Sports Action Photo | 4th | CSU Bakersfield-The Runner | Sebastian Mentel jumps over CSUN goal keeper | Johnathan Wheatley | Good action and composition |
| Sports Action Photo | 5th | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | Allman was ready for the spotlight | Jessica Ruiz | Good action and focus. |
| Sports Action Photo | 1st | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | Local boxers clash at Fairmont Hotel ballroom event | Denis Perez | Excellent lighting and positioning. Captured the moment. Very well done. Not easy to do this in boxing. |
| Sports Action Photo | 2nd | Santa Ana College-el Don | Soccer | Diego Devia | Wonderful expressions. Viewer can feel the movement and the tension. Excellent work. |
| Sports Action Photo | 3rd | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | Horses, jockeys compete at Churchill Downs | Denis Perez | Love the color and angle in this sports feature photo. Wonderful framing. Very compelling. |
| Sports Action Photo | 4th | Santa Barbara City College-The Channels | SBCC football ends season with a one point loss against Pasadena | Thomas Fernandez | Great moment. The viewer is left to wonder what happens next. So many possibilities. Very intriguing. |
| Sports Action Photo | 5th | El Camino College-The Union | Fighting to free herself | Darwyn Samayoa | Beautiful action. Well done. |
| Sports Action Photo | 1st | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Sad football players | Max Schwartz | Photo illustration works well as an entry point into the page. 2ndary photo is effective, too. |
| Sports Action Photo | 2nd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Chasing the ball | Sidney Zabell | The action shot in the middle of the page really catches the intensity of the moment. |
| Sports Action Photo | 3rd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Football defensive line | Sidney Zabell | Catching the emotion of the moment is key in these photos. |
| Sports Action Photo | 4th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Blocked shot water polo | Sidney Zabell | Nice action shot on water polo, it was a bit soft but still intense. |
| Sports Action Photo | 5th | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | CVHS Cross Country teams give it their all at NCS championships | Andrew Watanabe | Nice action photo of the cross country guys |
| Photo Illustration | 1st | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | Cover art | Andre Gomez, Chris Trinh | A very clean image. Excellent work, an eye-catching piece. Good job with page balance. The illustration is allowed to breathe through the use of open space around it. Good use of color, with the school's complementary colors blending nicely. The elements work well together, positioned so as to keep readers’ eyes trained on the middle of the page. |
| Photo Illustration | 2nd | UCLA-Daily Bruin | UCLA Health reneges on announced $5,000 housing stipend to resident physicians | Liz Ketcham | Excellent work. A very clean presentation. Flawless execution. It conveys the story very well — doctors are losing money. |
| Photo Illustration | 3rd | CSU Bakersfield-The Runner | Thinkin' of a Master Plan | Miguel Fabian, Aqsa Khan, Skylar Carrasco | A good idea, a creative approach. The illustration is striking and it clearly informs readers about the major issues involved with the master plan. Good use of white space. Effective use of color. |
| Photo Illustration | 4th | Santa Clara University-The Santa Clara | Precious Juuls | Michelle Wang | Very good work. It presents a neutral look. The illustration could have made Juul smokers look bad, or it could have made vaping look glamorous/desirable. This avoids both of those, it plays it down the middle, as journalists should. |
| Photo Illustration | 5th | UCLA-Daily Bruin | Meghan Scudero balances roles to prove both the pen and the soccer ball are mighty | Amy Dixon, Axel Lopez | The artist was wise to not overdo this. It’s not too busy. It avoids the visual cliches often seen with stories about athletes and books. The light on her face seems a bit bright, but otherwise the execution is very good. |
| Photo Illustration | 1st | Santa Ana College-el Don | 41-year-old Rookie | Jordy Espinoza | Nice treatment of a photo, good color choices |
| Photo Illustration | 2nd | Santa Ana College-el Don | Weed Cover | Nikki Nelsen | Clear message, nice color treatment and overlay of images. |
| Photo Illustration | 3rd | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | Injustice breeds social change | Denis Perez | Creative use of photos. Clear message. Good use of smaller elements. |
| Photo Illustration | 4th | Santa Ana College-el Don | Stress 101 | Sabrina Zamora | Powerful message, appropriate color. |
| Photo Illustration | 5th | El Camino College-The Union | Smoking ban: Enforced or irgnored? | Ryan Guitare | Good image and use of lighting treatment. Absence of color makes it stronger! Nicely done. |
| Photo Illustration | 1st | Sanger High School - Hi-Lights | Trump Tweets: Make Twitter great again! | Von Balanon | A witty, timely and clear illustration of an important topic. Well done. |
| Photo Illustration | 2nd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Doug Mason resigns | Sidney Zabell | This illustration handles a serious subject with taste on a challenging campus issue. |
| Photo Illustration | 3rd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Pumpkin face | Dylan Rowe | A fun and clever way to represent a celebration of all things fall. |
| Photo Illustration | 4th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Party scene | Akhil Shah | This illustration tackles an essential topic and adds depth to the article. |
| Photo Illustration | 5th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Litter | Sydney Sewell | A well-executed photo illustration that makes its point clear. |
| Illustration | 1st | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | Ringing in a new life: Recent graduates talk post-college careers, friendships and next steps | Isabella Schreiber | The execution here is wonderful — perfectly complementing the article. It hits the point — containing a diverse student and showing the idea of degree attainment. |
| Illustration | 2nd | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | ‘The Black Woman is God: Assembly of Gods’ reveres the Black female artist | Isabella Schreiber | Gorgeous illustration from the perspective of texture and execution. A creative complement to the piece. |
| Illustration | 3rd | UCLA-Daily Bruin | California wildfires | Nicole Anisgard Parra | Timely, well-executed art. |
| Illustration | 4th | UCLA-Daily Bruin | Romance and #MeToo | Claire Sun | Potentially a conversation starter as a piece of art. |
| Illustration | 5th | Humboldt State University-The Lumberjack | I was never silent | Jen Kelly | Timely and well-executed. |
| Illustration | 1st | Santa Ana College-el Don | Santa Ana City Mayor | Alberto Donjuan | effective use of color. Conveys clear message without words. |
| Illustration | 2nd | Santa Rosa Junior College-The Oak Leaf | Profanity | Rachel Edelstein | Good digital art. Message is clear |
| Illustration | 3rd | Santa Ana College-el Don | Keep the Blunts Rolling | Dennis Guirola | nice art |
| Illustration | 4th | San Jose City College-The Times | Hate crime shocks EVC | Magnolia Lonero | Creative use of color and shape |
| Illustration | 5th | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | Flicks splash onto silver screen | Isaac Benivades | Nice art |
| Illustration | 1st | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Anime | Andrew Yung | |
| Illustration | 2nd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Snow globe | Sidney Zabell | |
| Illustration | 3rd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Student Senate | Abbie Gould | |
| Illustration | 4th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Dyer Road | Abbie Gould | |
| Illustration | 5th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Clashing cars | Andrew Yung, Sidney Zabell | |
| Online General Excellence | 1st | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | The Daily Californian website | Harini Shyamsundar, Victoria Do, Michael Tamaki | |
| Online General Excellence | 2nd | UC Santa Barbara - The Daily Nexus | The Daily Nexus website | Daily Nexus | |
| Online General Excellence | 3rd | UCLA-Daily Bruin | Daily Bruin website | Nathan Smith, Mike Zhang, Hongyi Zhang | |
| Online General Excellence | 4th | Claremont Colleges-The Student Life | The Student Life website | Hank Snowdon, Meghan Bobrowsky, Ariel So, Kellen Browning | |
| Online General Excellence | 5th | Humboldt State University-The Lumberjack | The Lumberjack website | Deija Zavala, Nicole Bravo | |
| Online General Excellence | 1st | City College of San Francisco-The Guardsman | The Guardsman website | The Guardsman Staff | Bold design and great coverage of campus stories. Easy to navigate based on interests with category buttons. |
| Online General Excellence | 2nd | El Camino College-The Union | The Union website | The Union Staff | Good use of large typefaces and simple, clean color scheme. Enjoyed the sports profiles and crime map features. |
| Online General Excellence | 3rd | Skyline College-The Skyline View | The Skyline View website | The Skyline View Staff | Simple, clean layout. The 'Honoring our Veterans' and extensive reviews were highlights. |
| Online General Excellence | 4th | Santa Ana College-el Don | el Don website | Lizeth Fuentes, Diego Devia, Nikki Nelsen, Jason Solares | Effective use of photos for a big, bold presentation. Enjoyed the health articles. |
| Online General Excellence | 5th | Diablo Valley College-The Inquirer | The Inquirer website | The Inquirer Staff | Simple green and black color scheme most effective of all entries. Enjoyed 'The Buzz' pieces in the Opinion section. |
