{"id":392120,"date":"2026-07-09T15:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T15:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/392120\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T15:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T15:36:13","slug":"cal-state-la-journalism-community-honored-at-the-68th-annual-southern-california-journalism-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/392120\/","title":{"rendered":"Cal State LA journalism community honored at the 68th Annual Southern California Journalism Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cal State LA\u00a0students, alumni,\u00a0and\u00a0faculty\u00a0earned top honors at the Los Angeles Press Club\u2019s\u00a068th Annual Southern California Journalism Awards<\/a>, held\u00a0on June 28\u00a0at the\u00a0Millennium Biltmore Hotel\u00a0in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

The annual awards recognize outstanding journalism produced by professional and student news organizations throughout Southern California.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among the top student honors,\u00a0University Times\u00a0Community News received first place in the Investigative, Government Related category for\u00a0the article,\u00a0\u201cTiny homes are a flawed solution to LA\u2019s homelessness crisis, investigation finds<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The judges\u00a0praised the\u00a0investigation\u00a0as \u201ca detailed look at the issues facing the\u00a0tiny\u00a0homes for the homeless in LA,\u201d noting that the\u00a0\u201cinterviews and data painted a vivid picture of the failings of the ventures and what should be done to turn this into a more positive initiative.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The investigative piece\u00a0was produced through Cal State LA\u2019s JOUR 4920 Advanced Reporting & Investigating course\u00a0taught by\u00a0Professor\u00a0Julie Patel\u00a0Liss\u00a0for the\u00a0Journalism\u00a0Program\u2019s community news outlet\u00a0and published collaboratively with\u00a0the\u00a0Los\u00a0Angeles\u00a0Public Press. Student reporters included\u00a0Bryan Antunez,\u00a0Quinae\u00a0Austin, Jonathan Chung,\u00a0Marcos Franco, Tristan Longwell, Brenda James\u00a0Mwingira, Sydney\u00a0Wanguhu, and Emmanuel Villarruel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0investigation\u00a0also was\u00a0named a finalist in the Local Politics\/Government Reporting \u2013 Homelessness\/Housing category.\u00a0Liss\u2019\u00a0follow-up story<\/a>\u00a0for the\u00a0LA Public Press\u00a0was named by the National Association of Hispanic\u00a0Journalists\u2019\u00a0awards<\/a>\u00a0as one of three finalists in the Data & Innovation Journalism category.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The LA Press Club also\u00a0honored\u00a0Cal State LA\u00a0journalism instructor Andrew J. Campa, a reporter for the\u00a0Los Angeles Times,\u00a0with\u00a0first place in the Travel Reporting category for\u00a0\u201cPrimm was once an affordable casino mecca for L.A. Now it has become a ghost town.<\/a>\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The judges\u00a0described Campa\u2019s article as \u201ca\u00a0great read that takes you to a place you\u2019d never go, and that\u2019s just part of the story.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cal State LA student reporter Steven Lopez was\u00a0named\u00a0a finalist in the Best Sports Writing \u2013 Print or Online category\u00a0of\u00a0the Student Media division\u00a0for\u00a0his article,\u00a0\u201cFrom setbacks to MVP: Ayjah Landers on her comeback story<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0it\u00a0was\u00a0published in the\u00a0University Times,\u00a0Cal State LA\u2019s student newspaper and website. Lopez\u00a0previously served as\u00a0a Report for America intern at\u00a0the\u00a0LA Public Press\u00a0and is now an intern with The Inland Sports Show.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to the award winners, Cal State LA journalism graduate Tupac Zapata was selected for the prestigious\u00a0Meet the Foot in the Door Fellows Class of 2026<\/a>.\u00a0Zapata\u00a0currently serves as a news assistant at ABC7,\u00a0under the\u00a0mentorship of\u00a0news anchor\u00a0David Ono, who won TV journalist of the year and best anchor\/host\u00a0at this year\u2019s awards.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe success of our students, alumni, and faculty at this year\u2019s Southern California Journalism Awards reflects Cal State LA\u2019s commitment to preparing journalists who produce impactful, public-service reporting,\u201d said\u202fMichael Clarke, chair of the Journalism Program at Cal State LA. \u201cTheir work demonstrates the power of news reporting, collaboration, and community engagement.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Also recognized at the Southern California Journalism Awards was Cal State LA\u2019s\u00a0honorary\u00a0doctoral\u00a0degree recipient Christine Devine. Together with Sam Dubin, Morgan Martini, and Steve Thorp of KTTV FOX11, Devine earned third place in the Education Reporting category\u00a0of\u00a0the Broadcasting division\u00a0for\u00a0\u201cPrison Bachelor\u2019s Degree<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0a report highlighting Cal State LA\u2019s Prison Graduation Initiative\u00a0(PGI).<\/p>\n

The story follows Freddie Hernandez, who graduated from\u00a0PGI\u00a0and served as the student speaker\u00a0during\u00a0the graduation ceremony\u00a0while serving a life-without-parole sentence in a California state prison. Founded in 2016,\u00a0PGI\u00a0was California\u2019s first in-person bachelor\u2019s degree completion program for incarcerated students.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Devine was\u00a0also\u00a0named\u00a0a finalist in the Activism Journalism category\u00a0of\u00a0the Broadcasting division with\u00a0FOX11\u00a0colleagues\u00a0Sam Dubin and Tony Ruiz for\u00a0\u201cPrison: Allen\u2019s Story<\/a>.\u201c\u00a0The segment profiled Allen Burnett, co-founder of The Prism Way and a Cal State LA\u00a0PGI\u00a0alumnus, and\u00a0featured\u00a0fellow\u00a0alumnus\u00a0Edwin Cruz\u00a0for\u00a0their work supporting formerly incarcerated individuals\u00a0as they\u00a0rebuild their lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cal State LA\u00a0students, alumni,\u00a0and\u00a0faculty\u00a0earned top honors at the Los Angeles Press Club\u2019s\u00a068th Annual Southern California Journalism Awards, held\u00a0on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392121,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-392120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}