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 2019 California Journalism Awards Campus Contest winners by category.
The table is sortable by the column headers (Category, Award, Publication, Entry Title, Credits 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 will be shipped directly to the winning publications in a few weeks.
Personalized certificates will also be mailed to winners in each category.
| Category | Award | Publication | Entry Title | Credits | Judge’s Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Excellence | 1st | San Jose State University-Spartan Daily | May 9 & 15, 2019 | Spartan Daily Staff | |
| General Excellence | 2nd | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | Oct. 3 & 4, 2019 | Soofie Motamedi, Sakura Cannestra, Kaitlan Tseng | |
| General Excellence | 3rd | CSU Fresno-The Collegian | March 13 & 20, 2019 | Collegian Staff | |
| General Excellence | 4th | CSU Bakersfield-The Runner | Nov. 20 & Dec. 4, 2019 | Sam Underwood, Amy Pachla, Marsalh Musaad | |
| General Excellence | 5th | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | Nov. 20 & 21, 2019 | Daily Titan Staff | |
| General Excellence | 1st | Southwestern College-The Sun | Nov. 21 & Dec. 12, 2019 | Sun Staff | The Sun's writing is top notch. The design is a bit weak, but the use of photos is excellent. The paper's editorial voice is strong and the range of coverage is compelling and thought-provoking. The line in the editorial about "Seagull Management" is PURE GOLD. |
| General Excellence | 2nd | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | April 21 & May 7, 2019 | Advocate Staff | Very strong design, especially in typography and use of graphics/illustration. The cannabis layout is especially good. As is the election timeline - useful and effective. Stories cover a good range, but could use some more editing for clarity and readability. |
| General Excellence | 3rd | Santa Ana College-el Don | Oct. 28 & Dec. 2, 2019 | Lesly Guzman, Ashley Ramynke, Kate Bustamante, Dorian Zavala | The design is near flawless - excellent use of color, typography and especially illustration. The coverage is strong, although could reflect back on the school/students more. The boxing feature did not seem to connect to campus. The Women In Fear package was very strong, specifically due to the illustration. |
| General Excellence | 4th | San Joaquin Delta College-The Collegian | Nov. 8 & Dec. 6, 2019 | Collegian Staff | It's clear the large staff of the Collegian has a lot of talent. Their dedication to investigative work is admirable. The use of design and illustration is strong. More creativity could be put into the headlines. Excellent job at presenting a wide range of campus views. |
| General Excellence | 5th | San Jose City College-The Times | May 7 & April 9, 2019 | Joeanna Lopez, Mikie Negrete, Jason Lin, Times Staff | It is clear the Times staff knows its campus well - they demonstrate a wide range of student views and opinions. The layout and use of typography could use work. |
| General Excellence | 1st | Sanger High School - Hi-Lights | October & November 2019 | Emily Hartsell, Allison Chang, Madison Lopez, Simran Sodhi | Eye-catching front pages and design. Interesting mix of news stories and opinion pieces. Elements such as scannable codes are a fun way to incorporate digital media into a print product. Strong writing and photography. The staff demonstrates a commitment to providing local news coverage. |
| General Excellence | 2nd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | March & April 2019 | Granite Bay Gazette Staff | |
| General Excellence | 3rd | Archbishop Riordan High School-The Crusader | October & December 2019 | Steven Rissotto, Crusader Staff | |
| General Excellence | 4th | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | Nov. 8 & Dec. 6, 2019 | Olympian Staff | |
| Writing | 1st | Claremont Colleges-The Student Life | Loud hands are proud hands: The joy, freedom, and pain of stimming | Donnie Denome | A poignantly written first-person column that certainly opened this judge's eyes to one of the often-dismissed challenges of people with autism. |
| Writing | 2nd | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | Pay Attention to Santa Rita Jail | Revati Thatte, Daily Californian Editorial Board | Crisply written editorial that grabs the reader's attention in the very first sentence and doesn't let go until it's made its convincingly made its point. |
| Writing | 3rd | CSU Fresno-The Collegian | Wednesday Warmup: The assassination of California sports by the coward Mark Emmert | Anthony De Leon | This editorial was illuminating even for a reader who doesn't follow college sports. |
| Writing | 4th | CSU Fresno-The Collegian | Wednesday Warmup: A tale of two interceptions | Anthony De Leon | |
| Writing | 1st | El Camino College-The Union | Living as an undocumented student under the Trump administration | Fernando Haro | Strong anecdotal lede (should be used sparingly, but works here). Really appreciate the thoughtfulness behind this piece, balancing the personal with the greater issue/context. Great choices. |
| Writing | 2nd | San Jose City College-The Times | When mommy wasn't the greatest | Krissy Tobey | This is just darned good writing. I loved it. |
| Writing | 3rd | Santa Ana College-el Don | Local Gamers Protest Against Blizzard | Carrie Graham | Exciting journalism from the community college level. |
| Writing | 4th | San Jose City College-The Times | Astronomical selfishness | Krissy Tobey | Very clever writing. |
| Writing | 5th | El Camino College-The Union | Humanitarian pushes through traumatic past to help others | Fernando Haro | Another outstanding effort from this talented journalist. |
| Writing | 1st | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Cheating on the rise | Emerson Ford | The piece did a good job tackling a timeless topic. It was filled with engaging examples and was well reported and organized. |
| Writing | 2nd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | After 5 days in a coma, former Rocklin student has become an anti-vaping activist | Ashley Yung | The story is filled with vivid details and shows impact. |
| Writing | 3rd | Sanger High School - Hi-Lights | Dress codes updates are underway | Emily Hartsell | Story is well reported and includes strong examples and sources. |
| Writing | 4th | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | Amazon rainforest needs action | Tiffany Ho | The lead grabbed my attention and made me want to keep reading. |
| Writing | 5th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Teachers Fear They Lack a Voice & Representation in RJUHSD | Cori Caplinger | Writing about contract negotiations is tough. Story showed balance. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 1st | San Jose State University-Spartan Daily | Millions Misused | Lindsey Boyd, Jana Kadah, Mauricio LaPlante, Kunal Mehta | Really belongs in an investigative category if there is one, reporting on large-scale financial mismanagement at the Spartan Foundation. This subject was picked up later by other news organizations and led to a lot of discussion about how the funds were used. A couple of well-designed graphics outlines the sometimes complex money flow, as it is supposed to occur and as the paper says it actually did, along with a timeline showing how the personel interacted; all were helpful in conveying the situation. The university disputed some of the article's conclusions but apparently not the core factual assertions. Outstanding work. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 2nd | CSU Long Beach-Daily 49er | Behind the scenes at CSULB | Jacob Powers, Rachel Barnes, Anna Karkalik | A goal for news: Tell me something I don't already know even thought it's in plain sight. These articles do that. I always wondered what was actually inside my university's "central plant." Now I have a better idea. The description (and ample but not overwhelming details) plus the clear photos make for a good package in story 1. The article on "a taste of the nugget" (about how the campus' main eatery works) came close to the first, the backgrounder of the campus shuttle system was enlightening and probably directly useful for many students, and the night shift custodians piece probably exposed students to a whole world of people they hadn't even thought of before. (Not to mention the winner of the custodian of the year award.) This is the kind of series any college paper (really, any paper) could usefully do, and these articles, not especially long but overall well crafted, could serve as models. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 3rd | San Jose State University-Spartan Daily | Out of nine faculty members denied tenure or promotion, seven were women of color | Christian Trujano | Some of the professors denied tenure maintain that the evaluations system is broken. The article (prompted by those complaints) takes a careful look at the process, drawing on both procedural records as well as interviews and confidential documents. This probably was not an easy story to research, though there were advocates on both sides who likely helped. It reads like a solidly-researched piece focused more on the background than on the specific news item (though there was some digging into the specific cases), so it logically fits this category. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 4th | San Jose State University-Spartan Daily | A.S. President accused of harassment | Vicente Vera, Chelsea Nguyen Fleige | Should this have been in a news category? It is a broadly comprehensive article about an accusation of stalking and harassment against a student leader, with images of official documents related to the case, along with (later on as the story develops) a defamation lawsuit filed by the accused. It looks to have been comprehensively and clearly reported, though the first article might have benefited from a tighter copy edit. A good series of spot news stories covering a sensitive conflict. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 5th | CSU Chico-The Orion | Butte Hall project stirs asbestos fears | Jessie Imhoff | Short but packed a lot of useful background and information into the story plus accompanying graphic. It notes that asbestos removal is ongoing, what the history of the main removal site is, why the problem happened, what the health problems are that could be involved, some background on past possibly-related deaths and other locations where asbestos can be found on campus. That makes it sound like a long story but very efficiently handled. It was partially a news story per se, though, since it was prompted by just-then ongoing asbestos removal operations. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 1st | San Joaquin Delta College-The Collegian | MyDelta Rollout | Collegian Staff | |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 2nd | Southwestern College-The Sun | Associated Student Organization Debacle | Brittany Cruz-Fejeran, Katy Stegall, Julia Woock, Pernisha Gaines | |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 3rd | El Camino College-The Union | Heavy rain and cold temperatures impact homeless residents | Jose Tobar, Juan Miranda, Cameron Woods | |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 4th | El Camino College-The Union | Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder make up 12% of disabled student population at El Camino College | Rosemary Montalvo | |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 5th | El Camino College-The Union | Food safety questioned around community colleges; inspection results vary | Merritt Ryan Albin | |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 1st | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Gen Z facing the vaping epidemic | Angelina Kolosey, Mareesa Islam, Ashley Yung | The topic is a timely one, and I appreciated there were numerous voices. The structure was strong, but be careful about leads that carry an opinion. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 2nd | Sanger High School - Hi-Lights | New whistle blower on campus | Carlos Moctezuma, Anysa Chanthavong | Timely information presented clearly. Some strong writing and a straightforward lead. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 3rd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | The Administrative Angle at Granite Bay High | Ashley Yung, Sophie Criscione, Angelina Kolosey | Well-framed story that highlights perspectives of admin in an effort to educate readers. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 4th | Sanger High School - Hi-Lights | Make the government open again | Emily Hartsell | |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | 5th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Just a difference of opinion? | Angelina Kolosey, Sophie Criscione, Ashley Yung | |
| Profile Story | 1st | Claremont Colleges-The Student Life | What’s going on at the Denver House? | Laney Pope, Siena Swift | In lesser hands, this story could have been snarky and confusing. Instead, this well-reported effort answered some interesting questions while posing others. |
| Profile Story | 2nd | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | Trey Turner III: Family is ‘forever united’ | Surina Khurana | Nice general profile, touching on many aspects of the young man's life. |
| Profile Story | 3rd | CSU Long Beach-Daily 49er | Transitioning while visible | Madalyn Amato | Took what can be a complicated subject and always presented it in knowable, human terms. |
| Profile Story | 4th | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | Escaping Vietnam to reform education | Brandon Pho | A warm piece that did a good job of presenting personal history within the context of history itself. |
| Profile Story | 5th | CSU Long Beach-Daily 49er | 94-year-old man goes back to college | Saad Kazi | A heartwarming slice of life. |
| Profile Story | 1st | Santa Rosa Junior College-The Oak Leaf | Resistance: Now and forever | Zane Zinkl | |
| Profile Story | 2nd | El Camino College-The Union | FeaturesTop Stories Humanitarians fight against homelessness by providing basic needs | Roseana Martinez | |
| Profile Story | 3rd | Las Positas College-Express | It's about more than basketball for Hawks Australian forward | Arion Armeniakos | |
| Profile Story | 4th | Las Positas College-Express | Camryn Adams emerges triumphant | Devin Bradshaw | |
| Profile Story | 5th | Santa Rosa Junior College-The Oak Leaf | Double life: Classes by day, jokes by night | Riley Palmer | |
| Profile Story | 1st | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Teacher tries tiny-house living | Kate Fernandez | Tight professional-level writing. Excellent layout with two-deck head and off-center photo due to vertical quote. |
| Profile Story | 2nd | Archbishop Riordan High School-The Crusader | Celebrating 70 years of Crusader Brotherhood: 1970s: The Pathfinders | Michael Gray | School pride, properly written. Insightful quotes instructive for all who read story. |
| Profile Story | 3rd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Multi-lingual students on campus | Shreya Dodballapur | Quotations support amazing story about value of multilingual relationships and assist others. Bright layout is attractive. |
| Profile Story | 4th | Sanger High School - Hi-Lights | Chacon bring legacy to new high school | Suriya Siriphoosit | Good, broad coverage of multi-faceted topic. Tighter editing would help. Layout rather “busy.” |
| Profile Story | 5th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | GBHS faculty also write fiction | Bella Khor | Pleasant read. Did need tighter editing for less casual approach. Good interview skill, demonstrates a teacher who “gets it done.” |
| Columns | 1st | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | Pee math; Rain, rain, go away | Vyoma Raman | Powerful writing that provides a glimpse into the daily routines so many take for granted but prove challenging for those with disabilities. |
| Columns | 2nd | CSU Chico-The Orion | Chico State struggles with Camp Fire aftermath; Campus police take responsibility for actions — Hutchinson will not | Natalie Hanson | Columns held public institutions accountable with effective writing. |
| Columns | 3rd | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | Delaying my diagnosis; Not your inspiration | Simmy Khetpal | Columns are well written. |
| Columns | 1st | Las Positas College-Express | No, Quentin Tarantino was not disrespecting Bruce Lee. Lighten up. Please.; ‘The Irishman’ a harbinger of the digital dominance paradigm | Travis Danner | Enjoyed the opinions. |
| Columns | 2nd | Southwestern College-The Sun | Black men need understanding, support to fight depression; ‘No Snitching’ ethos a contagion for minorities | Justin Dottery | Well-written. |
| Columns | 3rd | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | Drag culture gets watered down by mainstream TV; Smollet hoax sets back the LGBTQ community, sheds negative light | Michael Santone | Important topic. |
| Columns | 4th | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | Gaming professionals need league support; Boxing’s dangerous norms raise questions | Xavier Johnson | Fascinating. |
| Columns | 5th | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | Profit margins spell doom for holiday cheer; Indigenous beauty tests society’s view | Cindy Pantoja | Interesting |
| Columns | 1st | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | Why do you choose to judge people based on what they wear?; APUSH class simulations should be reconsidered | Katrina Siler | Thoughtful commentary on the influence and conduct of a class. |
| Columns | 2nd | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | Don’t be afraid to take a risk; Growing Up Multiracial | Jeanette Wallis | Both Olympian entries into this contest demonstrated superior writing. |
| Columns | 3rd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Politics have come for comedy; Problematic or not, Kanye is reformed | Justin Ha | Nice take on how funny it always is when politics and comedy collide. |
| Columns | 4th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Success has numerous definitions; Censorship keeps the truth away | Ashley Yung | |
| Columns | 5th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Dreams should be encouraged; Our teachers need some support too | Cori Caplinger | |
| Sports Game Story | 1st | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | The Axe is back: Cal beats Stanford for 1st time in decade | Emily Ohman | Sharp lede on this college football rivalry story which pulled me into the piece. Overall, tight writing with nice descrlption. Excellent game coverage. |
| Sports Game Story | 2nd | CSU Chico-The Orion | Rugby team fights for national title | Lucero Del Rayo-Nava | |
| Sports Game Story | 1st | Las Positas College-Express | Hawks show off grit, determination — advance in the playoffs with a win over Taft | Arion Armeniakos | |
| Sports Game Story | 2nd | El Camino College-The Union | ECC men’s basketball team’s offensive struggles continue in loss to Fullerton College | Matthew Sandoval | |
| Sports Game Story | 3rd | Santa Ana College-el Don | Dons Women's Soccer Team Win Their First Playoff Since 2009 | Dorian Zavala | |
| Sports Game Story | 4th | Las Positas College-Express | Hawks historic season ends after loss in Santa Rosa | Arion Armeniakos | |
| Sports Game Story | 5th | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | Early lead squandered after error | Luis Cortes | |
| Sports Game Story | 1st | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | Trojans achieve epic comeback | Katrina Siler | |
| Sports Game Story | 2nd | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | Kia's kick caps Trojans' triumph | Myla Ogle | |
| Sports Game Story | 3rd | Archbishop Riordan High School-The Crusader | Basketball starts season with slam dunk | Cameron Bevan-Abel | |
| Sports Game Story | 4th | Archbishop Riordan High School-The Crusader | Riordan cross country runs its way to top 5 | Christian Ramirez Cortes | |
| News Photo | 1st | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | Multiple arrests, 1 injury occur during protest of Ann Coulter event at UC Berkeley | Sam Albillo | The source of light turns a good picture into a great one. I like how it illuminates the faces of those nearby, while the edges of the photo disappear into darkness. The focus of the picture, the president’s catchphrase, jump out at the viewer and make this photo more significant, whether you agree with the message or not. Nice job. |
| News Photo | 2nd | CSU Long Beach-Daily 49er | Roof repair -- workers go high to fix a leaky pyramid roof | Austin Brumblay | Good use of the trees in the foreground to make a contrast with the massive building in the background. The difference in color between foreground and back also makes this picture jump out at the viewer. The people look like ants on the pyramid. Great photo. |
| News Photo | 3rd | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | Berkeley celebrates Indigenous Peoples’ Day with 27th annual powwow | Josh Kahen | The focus on the three women in their colorful outfits makes for a beautiful, sharp photo. The background shows the viewer what’s happening, though I’d prefer the focus to be more on the women and have less tents in the shot. |
| News Photo | 4th | San Jose State University-Spartan Daily | Death stirs concern for pedestrians | Mauricio La Plante | A picture that makes the viewer remember how fleeting life is. The deceased is obviously weighing on the subject of the photo, and it makes for a thoughtful picture. It’s a bit too fuzzy for me, though, and would have liked a sharper image. |
| News Photo | 5th | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | Black students say CSUF isn’t as diverse as university claims | Noah Biesiada | It’s obvious that this group of people is dealing with significant issues and is deep in discussion. Ultimately, though, it’s a picture of people standing around. Action would make this photo more powerful. |
| News Photo | 1st | Southwestern College-The Sun | One Region — Two Countries | Ailyn Dumas | The barbed wire behind the subject of the photo captures the tense moments these people went through to get to the border. Captures impact. |
| News Photo | 2nd | Southwestern College-The Sun | Stranded in Tijuana: Santos Catalino López Velásquez's daughter | Brittany Cruz-Fejeran | The child is sickly, and could have been the main focus of the shot, but by showing the hand holding the child with the face blurred out, gives a sense of hope despite the tough conditions they find themselves in. |
| News Photo | 3rd | Santa Monica College-Corsair | Pete Buttigieg (left) and Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti, speak to media | Yasamin Jtehrani | Good up close shot. Captures Pete's facial expression well in a clear shot. Great quality. |
| News Photo | 4th | Southwestern College-The Sun | Life in the Borderlands | Ailyn Dumas | This image captures impact of the story well. Countless mothers who traveled to the border with their children underwent a lot of stress, but the small curve in her lips delivers a calm only a mother can give. |
| News Photo | 5th | Santa Ana College-el Don | Protest Against Gaming Company | Carrie Graham | Protest photos always offer great environments for shoots. The ability to get a tight shot on here is commendable. |
| News Photo | 1st | Sanger High School - Hi-Lights | Mom surprised son named Homecoming King | Emily Hartsell | The photographer did a great job of capturing the mom's surprise. Without much movement in the photo, her expression helps liven up the image. |
| News Photo | 2nd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Homecoming kiss | Lindsey Zabell | Great job at finding a heartfelt moment to photograph! You can feel the emotion in this photo. |
| News Photo | 3rd | Archbishop Riordan High School-The Crusader | Mercury levels in murky Lake Merced increase | Antonio Maffei | This photo has a clean composition that gives the eye clear direction of focus. |
| News Photo | 4th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Animal rehab courage | Bradyn Kesti | This photo has a great subject; showing more of the person's face would have made it significantly more impactful. |
| News Photo | 5th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Enjoying the show | Lindsey Zabell | |
| Feature Photo | 1st | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | Fight Until The End | Sam Albillo | Striking visual with great composition. Extremely well done with attractive shadowing and back light. |
| Feature Photo | 2nd | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | Run It Back | Ireland Wagner | Strong visual storytelling. Nice details captured on subject's face and balanced back lighting. |
| Feature Photo | 3rd | CSU Chico-The Orion | Queens, camera, action | Mary Vogel | Captivating image composed well. |
| Feature Photo | 1st | Santa Monica College-Corsair | Womens Swim Team Sana Shoket emerges from pool in a shower of water spray | Yasamin Jtehrani | |
| Feature Photo | 2nd | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | Culture and resistance celebrated | Xavier Johnson | |
| Feature Photo | 3rd | Santa Ana College-el Don | Ballet Folklorico | Nikki Nelsen | |
| Feature Photo | 4th | Santa Ana College-el Don | Brainstory Debuts Album in Downtown Santa Ana | Ashley Ramynke | |
| Feature Photo | 5th | Southwestern College-The Sun | Child Development Center serves students and their kids | Nicholas James | |
| Feature Photo | 1st | Sanger High School - Hi-Lights | Daddy's pride and joy | Madison Lopez | This perfectly timed and well-composed shot captured the sweet and emotional moment in the foreground as well as the explosive action in the background. |
| Feature Photo | 2nd | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | Homecoming Football Game Celebration | Derek Neyer | The photographer was in place on the field and captured an emotional moment right after the game. |
| Feature Photo | 3rd | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | Homecoming | Elena Lottich | The photographer was well positioned to capture this energetic crowd of students. We only hope he/she didn't get run over! |
| Feature Photo | 4th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Vaping | Maya Snow | This well-composed photo illustration was used to good effect in the page design. |
| Feature Photo | 5th | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | Mariachi | Milagros Aquino | The photographer captured a nice swirl of action by a colorfully dressed dancer. |
| Sports Action Photo | 1st | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | Volleyball splits weekend in Riverside | Mariah Ross | |
| Sports Action Photo | 2nd | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | Never say die: Inside Cal’s 2019 season | Ireland Wagner | |
| Sports Action Photo | 3rd | CSU Long Beach-Daily 49er | International waters -- Brazilian star making waves | Austin Brumblay | |
| Sports Action Photo | 4th | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | Titans win slew of Big West conference awards | Kason Clark | |
| Sports Action Photo | 5th | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | Newsom gives the power to the players | Eliza Green | |
| Sports Action Photo | 1st | Las Positas College-Express | Photo of Michael Hayes | Alan Lewis | |
| Sports Action Photo | 2nd | Santa Ana College-el Don | Women's Soccer | Chris Castro | |
| Sports Action Photo | 3rd | Santa Ana College-el Don | Dons Men's Soccer Team Ties | Rafael Valencia | |
| Sports Action Photo | 4th | Santa Ana College-el Don | Sophomore Running Back Scores Against LA Valley College | Chris Castro | |
| Sports Action Photo | 5th | Santa Monica College-Corsair | The Flash at the LA Marathon Start | Andrew Narvaez | |
| Sports Action Photo | 1st | Sanger High School - Hi-Lights | Kosi Agina Football | Troy Castillo | Sharp photo capturing action at the right moment. |
| Sports Action Photo | 2nd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Football run | Lindsey Zabell | Great shot, well focused, capturing the players' action (and even the ref in the background!) |
| Sports Action Photo | 3rd | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | Olivia Ott, wrestling | Kayla Craft-Williams | |
| Sports Action Photo | 4th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Color guard | Lindsey Zabell | |
| Sports Action Photo | 5th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Football trenches | Lindsey Zabell | |
| Photo Illustration | 1st | CSU Chico-The Orion | Queens, camera, action | Jacob Collier, Mary Vogel | The photos are vibrant and special for each subject. The page design helps highlight each photo. |
| Photo Illustration | 2nd | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | Titans cap Big West run as champions | Jordan Mendoza | The emotion in the photo is touching and it's amazing that so many players are included. |
| Photo Illustration | 3rd | CSU Fullerton-Daily Titan | Suspect on campus after stabbing | Eliza Green | The thoughtful page design and photo editing shows that the articles are related, but gives proper attention to the victim. |
| Photo Illustration | 4th | Claremont Colleges-The Student Life | The darker side of sports: Career-ending athletic injuries and adjusting to life afterward | Talia Bernstein | The photos are well shot and tasteful for the article's subject. |
| Photo Illustration | 5th | CSU Bakersfield-The Runner | Vegan Heart | Bre Parks | The photo is colorful and vibrant. |
| Photo Illustration | 1st | Santa Ana College-el Don | Spring Break Guide | Nikki Nelsen | Striking, bold colors and meticulous photography that immediately say "spring." A refreshing, eye-catching work of art. |
| Photo Illustration | 2nd | Santa Rosa Junior College-The Oak Leaf | Carceral state: The prison industrial complex wasn’t the solution for my mom | Edgar Soria Garcia | Powerful. |
| Photo Illustration | 3rd | San Jose City College-The Times | SJCC's Past vs. Present — Track | Jason Lin | Nice "then and now" concept. |
| Photo Illustration | 4th | Las Positas College-Express | Little man on campus | Jennifer Snook, Thiha Naing | Simple yet effective. |
| Photo Illustration | 5th | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | Marvel wraps up historic series | Denis Perez | |
| Photo Illustration | 1st | Sanger High School - Hi-Lights | Home Alone | Allison Chang, Emily Hartsell | This was an excellent, faithful, and funny re-creation of the Home Alone cover, bound to pull in the reader - or at least give them a good laugh. |
| Photo Illustration | 2nd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Vaping victim | Angelina Kolosey | Even if vaping is now commonplace, this cover certainly grabbed readers' attention. |
| Photo Illustration | 3rd | Sanger High School - Hi-Lights | Elf | Allison Chang | Great re-creation of the Elf cover. |
| Photo Illustration | 4th | Sanger High School - Hi-Lights | Principal of fun | Sergio Lopez | Perfect arrangement, blending, positioning and photo choice in this photo collage -- bringing home the "principal of fun" headline. |
| Photo Illustration | 5th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Teens who still trick or treat | Lindsey Zabell | |
| Illustration | 1st | San Jose State University-Spartan Daily | Black students seek unity and belonging | Nachaela Flores | |
| Illustration | 2nd | CSU Bakersfield-The Runner | Cost of graduation | Bre Parks | |
| Illustration | 3rd | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | The Castro’s designation as cultural district highlights importance of LGBTQ+ spaces | Emily Bi | |
| Illustration | 4th | San Jose State University-Spartan Daily | Welcome Spartans | Cindy Cuellar | |
| Illustration | 5th | UC Berkeley-The Daily Californian | Facial recognition ban highlights hypocrisy | Alexander Hong | |
| Illustration | 1st | El Camino College-The Union | Priorities: Spending for a few or the many? | Luciane Gasperis | Detailed and self-explanatory illustration that enhances the text. A real editorial cartoon. Great job! |
| Illustration | 2nd | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | Zombie alert | Cindy Pantoja | It looks like a real newspaper! Fun illustrations of the zombies and the cute and disgusting bugs with informational copy on which ones are most nutritious in preparation for the apocalypse. Playful and unexpected. Great job. |
| Illustration | 3rd | San Jose City College-The Times | NRA | Magnolia Lonero | A self-explanatory illustration that cleverly shows parts of Congress' dependence on the NRA. |
| Illustration | 4th | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | California’s green rush | Janet Lira | Love the package with the breakout, the different clubs listed, and the girl smoking below. Intelligent and well done. |
| Illustration | 5th | San Jose City College-The Times | Student loan | Magnolia Lonero | With a simple (and not particularly strong drawing), the artist still cleverly illustrates the risk with student loans and mounting debt. Great job! |
| Illustration | 1st | Archbishop Riordan High School-The Crusader | What’s best for Kyler Murray: football or baseball? | Miles Poon | Interesting graphic, attention to detail, and clarity of concept. |
| Illustration | 2nd | Sanger High School - Hi-Lights | Iphone11 too expensive | Simran Sodhi | |
| Illustration | 3rd | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Welcome home Spider-Man | Lindsey Zabell, Kate Fernandez, Maya Snow | |
| Illustration | 4th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | Students react to the impeachment hearings | Shreya Dodballapur | |
| Illustration | 5th | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | ‘Joker’ movie is no joke | Kate Fernandez | |
| Online General Excellence | 1st | CSU Long Beach-Daily 49er | daily49er.com | Daily 49er Staff | Dynamic and engaging layout, with a solid amount of content and in-depth features, plus impressive multimedia. |
| Online General Excellence | 2nd | Santa Clara University-The Santa Clara | thesantaclara.org | Santa Clara Staff | Great look and feel to the site, easy-to-read, with solid reporting and a variety of content. |
| Online General Excellence | 3rd | CSU Bakersfield-The Runner | therunneronline.com | Fernanda Martinez, Norma Hernandez, Sam Underwood | Clear layout, easy to read, colorful and engaging. Good mix of multimedia and static content. |
| Online General Excellence | 4th | CSU Chico-The Orion | theorion.com | Orion Staff | Easy to navigate, good variety of content, engaging writing and stories. |
| Online General Excellence | 1st | Santa Rosa Junior College-The Oak Leaf | theoakleafnews.com | Oak Leaf Staff | |
| Online General Excellence | 2nd | Las Positas College-Express | lpcexpressnews.com | Express Staff | |
| Online General Excellence | 3rd | Cerritos College-Talon Marks | talonmarks.com | Talon Marks Staff | |
| Online General Excellence | 4th | Contra Costa College-The Advocate | cccadvocate.com | Advocate Staff | |
| Online General Excellence | 5th | Santa Ana College-el Don | eldonnews.org | Lesly Guzman, Kate Bustamante, Ashley Ramynke, Dorian Zavala | |
| Online General Excellence | 1st | Granite Bay High School-The Gazette | granitebaytoday.org | GraniteBayToday Staff | An impressive news site that is easy to read, frequent updates, strong headlines. Impressive TV reporting. Interesting stories. |
| Online General Excellence | 2nd | Castro Valley High School-The Olympian | cvhsolympian.com | Olympian Staff | too big masthead that pushes the content down the page. I would have liked to see more frequent postings. When it comes to online, good to spread out the posts. |
| Online General Excellence | 3rd | Archbishop Riordan High School-The Crusader | rcrusadernews.com | Steven Rissotto, Antonio Maffei | Interesting stories and good headlines. Hard to read with white fonts on dark background. It feels a bit dated in its design. I would have liked more frequent updates. |
