La Voz staff won 31 awards at the Journalism Association of Community Colleges NorCal Regional Conference at San Jose State University on Oct. 25.
This breaks its previous record of 27 awards at the annual regional conference — first set in 2005, which the paper only recently tied in 2023 and 2024 — as well as its record for most first place finishes, with seven this year.
The awards recognized work submitted to JACC within the past year, including best photo essay, news story, sports photo, sports story and more.
The conference gave students from Northern California community colleges a chance to compete and network with fellow student journalists, while learning from industry professionals and news organizations.
David DeBolt, editor at Bay Area News Group, said events like this are helpful for student journalists’ growth, highlighting the value of local journalism today.
“There are news deserts up and down the state,” DeBolt said. “I want my paper to go into the towns that are not being covered, really get in there and do some impactful reporting.”
Annie Sciacca, an investigative journalist and journalism professor at Contra Costa College, said reporters play a key role in bearing witness to and documenting acts of free speech such as protests.
“One way we can (lift up voices) is by covering protests, that is a real action,” Sciacca said.
JACC Student President Gregory Hawthorn led a discussion with editors-in-chief from college newspapers about improving newsroom skills and reaching wider audiences.
Hawthorn said conferences like these and discussions between different newsrooms ultimately help everyone “improve and learn from others,” which positively impacts journalism as a whole.
Aerin Haro, staff writer at Diablo Valley College, said she was grateful to learn more about how to stay safe as a journalist.
“In this day and age, where the internet connects us all, we have more likely chances of being (doxxed) and our information being spread,” Haro said.
Haro said it is important for journalists to be taught how to keep themselves safe physically and mentally.
Dylan Cooper, 18, reporter for The Oak Leaf, said he loves journalism because he gets to write consistently.
“It’s not like writing a book, where you have to sit down for a while and then, after a year or two, getting that out there — every week you might be publishing,” Cooper said.
Richard Craig, adviser to the Spartan Daily at SJSU, said the best way to get new journalists to want to do more than they think they can is to show them what’s possible with their reporting.
“When they see what’s possible, they think, ‘Damn, why don’t we do this?” Craig said.
Attendees also participated in workshops on topics ranging from protest coverage and global reporting to pursuing journalism as a career, as well as five on-the-spot competitions in news and opinion writing, feature photography, copy editing and social media.
La Voz will also attend the Associated Collegiate Press Spring National College Media Conference in San Francisco March 5-7, which will be held in conjunction with JACC and the California College Media Association.
What La Voz took home:
Twenty-six publication awards:
- General Excellence – Newspaper: La Voz Staff
- General Excellence – Online: La Voz Staff
- -Sports Game Story: First place — Orly Bryan, Xitlaly Martinez, Mitchell Park
- Feature Story (non-profile): Honorable mention — Mariana Frias Da Costa
- Critical Review: First place — Tommy Ngo; honorable mention — Tommy Ngo
- Opinion Story: Third place — Mariana Frias Da Costa
- Photo Story/Essay: First place — Sarah Atito, Carolyn Zhao
- Online Photo Story/Essay: Third place — Wylder Robison, Frank Mayers, Matilda Whelan; honorable mention — Frank Mayers
- Sports Action Photo: Second place — Frank Mayers
- Sports Feature Photo: Fourth place — Averie Choi
- News Photo: First place — Ann Peñalosa
- Feature Photo: Second place — Frank Mayers; honorable mention — Frank Mayers
- Environmental Portrait: First place — Gavin Rust; honorable mention — Aidai Boobekova
- Photo Illustration: Honorable mention — Veronica Thant; honorable mention — Atharva Salkar
- Illustration: First place — Alice Shen
- Editorial Cartoon: Third place — Brooklyn Coyle
- Editorial: Fourth place — La Voz Editorial Board
- Inside Page Layout: First place — Brooklyn Coyle; Second place — Brooklyn Coyle
- Webcast/Broadcast News Show: Second place — Seanna Henry, Reymond Castañeda, Allan Galeana, Ann Peñalosa, Mitchell Park, Ashley Kang; Fourth place — Orly Bryan, Gordon Yang, Gavin Rust, Ashley Kang, Xitlaly Martinez, Ann Peñalosa
- Copy Editing: Second place — Ann Peñalosa; honorable mention — Xitlaly Martinez
- News Writing: Third place — Xitlaly Martinez
- Social Media: First place — Laila Sedan, Kinjal Dhandar, Gordon Yang, Atharva Salkar
- Opinion Writing: Second place — Carolyn Zhao
La Voz staff collectively gathered quotes and contributed to the production of this story.
