2020 California Journalism Awards - Print Division
Coverage of Local Government ( Weeklies: 25,001 & over)Back
Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Metro Silicon Valley Entry Title: San Jose Quietly Drops Curfew Citations Amid Claims of Selective Enforcement Entry Credit: Jennifer Wadsworth Judge Comment: Fantastic look at San Jose's inconsistent, hasty and ill-conceived curfew during last spring's protests. I did think the mayor anecdote might have worked better with a briefer mention in the story and the bulk of the material broken out of a sidebar, but the reporting was rock-solid. I wish every city who arrested people for curfew violations had an outlet that had done this story.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Good Times Entry Title: "Blue Shift" Entry Credit: Jacob Pierce Judge Comment: Loved this dive into predictive policing and also the balance you provided showing PredPol's efforts to avoid the "doom spiral" of arrests of disproportionate numbers of Black and brown people via officer-initiated actions. A fascinating read.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Monterey County Weekly Entry Title: Revealing a right-wing extremist in the Pacific Grove Police Department Entry Credit: Mary Duan, Pam Marino Judge Comment: Great legwork here diving into this officer's horrible viewpoints and the end result is he's no longer allowed to carry a gun and badge in your community. Well done.
Place Name: Fourth Place Contestant Name: Metro Silicon Valley Entry Title: Valley Palms Landlord Agrees to Tenant Demands in Exchange for Tax-Free Financing Entry Credit: Jennifer Wadsworth Judge Comment: Enjoyed this look at a local government sticking up for regular folks and using its power to leverage improvements.
Place Name: Fifth Place Contestant Name: Metro Silicon Valley Entry Title: South Bay Letter Carriers Say Mail Problems Linked to USPS Cost-Cutting Experiment Entry Credit: Jennifer Wadsworth Judge Comment: Nice work chronicling a local story that also became a national story in 2020. Puncturing a big bureaucracy like the USPS can be challenging, but the story delivers the goods.
