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 Open Contest winners by category.
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 | Publication | Entry Title | Credits | Judge’s Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Service Journalism | Long Beach Post | Close to home: Climate change in Long Beach | Long Beach Post Staff | An exhaustive look at how climate change most certainly within the next 30 years will endanger Long Beach neighborhoods, raise temperatures and create droughts and more ferocious storms, even subjecting Long Beach to wildfires for the first time. The web presentation was superb. |
| In-Depth Reporting | Los Angeles Times | American fallout: The Marshall Islands | Susanne Rust, Carolyn Cole, Ali Raj, Lorena Iñiguez Elebee | Great Pulitzer-worthy investigative piece on American nuclear waste deposited in the Marshall Islands, in a container now at risk rising ocean levels. Spectacular nine part series (with excellent artwork and graphics as well) - you could expand it just a little and turn it into a good book. |
| Investigative Reporting | Los Angeles Times | American fallout: The Marshall Islands | Susanne Rust, Carolyn Cole, Ali Raj, Lorena Iñiguez Elebee | In a category packed with some of the nation's most powerful journalism, this entry stood out. Few Americans know anything about the Marshall Islands. This series documented atrocities inflicted by the United States on unsuspecting islanders. The upshot is that this is a U.S. badge of shame, and this series provides the only chance for redemption. |
| Enterprise News Story or Series | San Francisco Chronicle | One Day, One City, No Relief | San Francisco Chronicle Staff | Cutting-edge storytelling with concise, vivd writing, superb photography and smart graphics. The format of one day may be familiar, but the execution here is innovative and wonderfully reader-friendly. A brilliant fusion of journalistic skills. |
| Feature Story | Santa Barbara Independent | In Cryonics Lawsuit, Son Fighters for Father’s Frozen Head | Tyler Hayden | Very poignant but tasteful writing of a macabre subject that few people know anything about. |
| Columns | Los Angeles Times | He died Sunday on a West L.A. sidewalk. He was homeless. He is part of an epidemic; A homeless musician changed my life. I wish I could do more to change his | Steve Lopez | A heartbreaking look at Los Angeles' homeless epidemic. If this writer can't move the bureaucracy, who can? |
| Photojournalism | San Francisco Chronicle | July 31, Nov. 3 & Dec. 1, 2019 | San Francisco Chronicle Photo Staff | Fine photography throughout, but the real grabber for me was the black and white visuals (alongside the also-excellent writing) in the package on San Francisco's homeless. The black and white starkness made it gripping and evocative both. |
| News Photo | Santa Monica Daily Press | Police prevent suicide | Matthew Hall | Wow. This photo grabs the reader instantly and tells a powerful, life-or-death story. High, high drama skillfully captured. |
| Feature Photo | Los Angeles Times | The end of the season for Paradise High | Wally Skalij | Such eloquence. Powerful, graceful and superbly composed. This image is timeless. |
