Tribune collects 15 state journalism awards, with five first-place finishes
The Tribune was honored as one of the top newspapers in the state for both online and general excellence, the California Newspaper Publishers Association announced Saturday.
It won five first-place, four second-place and six third-place state journalism awards for opinion, columns, sports, breaking news, agricultural, local government and photo coverage. The annual awards luncheon was held in Sonoma.
Additionally, The Tribune was a finalist in 10 categories: public service, in-depth reporting, writing, enterprise, youth and education, agriculture, feature writing, sports action photo and online breaking news coverage.
The Tribune, which competed in the 15,001-35,000 daily circulation division, placed third in both online and general excellence.
"These awards represent the work of the entire newsroom from breaking news coverage to investigative journalism and everything in between, and I personally want to thank each of the dedicated members of our staff for the job they do every day," senior editor Joe Tarica said. "At a time when the media is often under attack, responsible journalism has never been more critical than it is today.
"Our commitment to that role remains our greatest source of motivation, to bring you the most complete and compelling coverage of our community that we can."
Here's a closer look at the awards:
CNPA'S 2017 California Journalism Awards
First place awards:
- Land-use reporting: "Marijuana boom in jeopardy as SLO County considers ban in California Valley," Monica Vaughan and Joe Johnston
- Editorial: "Home Builders Association doesn't like SLO County's affordable housing fee. Too bad," Stephanie Finucane
- News photo: Parkhill Fire watcher, Joe Johnston
- Feature photo: Eagle vs. hawk, David Middlecamp
- Artistic photo: Pismo Beach sunset, David Middlecamp
Second place awards:
- Columns: "SLOStringer carved out a unique spot between the media and public safety," and "Pirate's Cove is still disgusting, and it's the Board of Supervisors' fault," Joetopia by Joe Tarica
- Arts & Entertainment section: Ticket, Sarah Linn
- Sports feature: "Motivated by loss, Jordan Hasay poised to be America's next great distance runner," Travis Gibson
- Sports feature photo: Wrestler Alexis Garcia, Joe Johnston
Third place awards:
- Online general excellence: sanluisobispo.com, staff
- General excellence, staff
- Breaking news: "Matthew Frank, the anonymous SLOStringer, died the way he lived — chasing news," Gabby Ferreira and Joe Johnston
- Local Government: "Who should pay for SLO County affordable housing — new homebuyers or taxpayers?" Lindsey Holden
- Profile: "Judge's career spanned Rex Krebs, Kristin Smart and the 'most heinous crimes imaginable'," Matt Fountain
- Feature photo: Santa Clause baby, Laura Dickinson
This story was originally published April 14, 2018 at 3:55 PM with the headline "Tribune collects 15 state journalism awards, with five first-place finishes."