PCC Courier Hauls in 20 Awards at SoCal Journalism Conference

The Courier, Pasadena City College’s student-run weekly newspaper, recently garnered 20 individual and group awards – including a rare sweep of the prestigious General Excellence awards category – at the Journalism Association of Community Colleges annual SoCal Conference.

“It’s a testament to us being one of the best journalism programs in the state,” said Philip McCormick, editor-in-chief of The Courier.

More than 20 California community colleges were represented at the JACC event, which was held Oct. 18 to 19 at California State University, Fullerton. The JACC is a Sacramento, Calif.-based, non-profit organization whose goal is to bridge the gaps between students, educators, and publications by providing networking and educational events. 

The conference awards were divided into two categories: On-The-Spot and Publication. In the former, students competed in live events that employed their skills in photography, design, writing, and illustration.

PCC hauled in seven awards in the On-The-Spot events. Monique LeBleu won first place in Feature Story, and Justin Clay took the top spot in Opinion Writing. Other students who placed included: Mick Donovan, honorable mention in Editorial Cartoon; Daniel Nerio, third place in Sports Photo; Keely Ernst, honorable mention in Broadcast News Writing; McCormick, fourth place in News Story; and Daniel Johnson, honorable mention in News Story.

In the Publication category, The Courier took home eight awards. Winners included: Benjamin Simpson, second place in Magazine Photo; Christine Michaels, Raymond Bernal, and McCormick, second place in Enterprise News Story/Series; Michaels, third place in Feature Story (Non Profile); The Courier Staff, third place in Front Page Layout (Tabloid); Aimee Scholz, second place in Editorial Cartoon; Antonio Gandara, second place in Informational Graphic; Teresa Mendoza, honorable mention in Feature Photo and News Photo; McCormick, fourth place in Column Writing; and Emily Chang-Chien, fourth place in News Story.

PCC was also one of only four colleges at the conference named as winners in all three General Excellence categories: Magazine (Spotlight), Newspaper, and Online Journalism (pcccourier.com).

“By posting stories to the website, covering breaking news as it’s happening, and using social media…what the students have been doing here is similar to something they would see in the real world,” said Nathan McIntire, PCC Visual Arts & Media Studies instructor and advisor to The Courier. “Hopefully, they will be prepared to jump right in [to the industry when they leave here.

“I am extraordinarily proud of them,” he added.

For more information, visit www.jacconline.org.