Cronkite News captures six awards in record showing at LA Press Club contest

Cronkite News students at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication took home six awards – including two prizes in professional categories — at the 63rd annual Southern California Journalism Awards held Saturday at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. The contest is sponsored by the Los Angeles Press Club, which has honored powerful journalism in the largest city on the West Coast since 1900.

With 10 nominations and six awards, this was Cronkite News’ most successful year at the LA Press Club Awards.

Digital news reporter Sarah Donahue’s story “Clean Energy Produced on Navajo Land Could Help Power Los Angeles,” won second place in the professional category Environmental Reporting – Print/Online. Reporters at Curbed and The Los Angeles Times took first and third place in the category, respectively.

“Sarah showed tenacity and savvy in her reporting on the complex issues wrapped up in Los Angeles’ quest for sustainability, and Navajo Nation’s need to diversify energy production following the closure of their coal-reliant energy station,” said Shaya Tayefe Mohajer, the Los Angeles bureau chief for Cronkite News since 2019 and a professor of practice at the Cronkite School. “She tracked down the Navajo Nation president at LA’s City Hall and shot her own portrait for the story, all while developing an exceptional feature story of importance.”

Donahue also won first place in the student category Best Feature Writing — Off Campus Issues and third place in the professional category for Solutions Journalism for “Urban Farm Provides Homeless Shelter Residents With Good Food and Opportunities,” a visually rich longform photojournalism story that shows how urban farms are addressing the problem of food insecurity for homeless people.

“Sarah’s excellent photojournalism helped illustrate this important story on how seemingly small efforts can meaningfully serve the needs of unhoused people,” said Tayefe Mohajer. “She had hoped to return for more reporting but the pandemic ended our field reporting midway through the semester — and yet she was still able to develop a detailed and thoughtful piece of solutions journalism.”

The win marks the second year in a row that a Cronkite News student has won top honors in the Best Feature Writing — Off-Campus Issues category at the LA Press Club Awards.

Sports broadcaster Kelsey Collesi won two awards, placing third in both student categories of Best Personality Profile, Campus Personalities – Any Platform and Best TV Reporting, Podcast or Stream for Coaches of Color Dominate in the Pac-12, which examines diversity among Pac-12 football coaches.

Tayefe Mohajer said Kelsey overcame the challenges of remote reporting and pressed an important question about diversity in football coaching, gaining insight from influential coaches leading Pac-12 squads.

Digital news reporter Caroline Yu won third place in the Best News Writing — Off Campus Issues category for her story, “Changes in Flight Paths at Burbank Airport Are Causing Distress in Surrounding Communities”, which relied on shoe leather reporting to land rich details and descriptions.

Tayefe Mohajer said Yu’s story for KCET’s SoCal Connected program was the perfect opportunity to showcase her consistent, meticulous reporting and sharp-witted writing.

Cronkite School students who competed in the contest cover multiplatform news and sports stories across one of the country’s biggest media markets.

“2020 was an exceptionally tough year for journalists everywhere, and our student journalists at the Cronkite School still managed to put out exceptional work for Cronkite News and Arizona PBS,” said Tayefe Mohajer. “I am so proud of the Cronkite News student journalists who persevered to tell stories despite all the challenges we faced. It’s an honor to be recognized by the LA Press Club, and to know the city’s leading journalists agree that Cronkite students are doing amazing work here.”

And the program is well-positioned to grow.

“With our expansion to the new Herald Examiner Building at the ASU California Center in downtown Los Angeles and the incredible support the university has given our program, the sky’s the limit and I am thrilled to be leading the charge to earn Sun Devils the recognition they deserve in journalism here in LA,” Tayefe Mohajer said.

Christina Leonard, executive editor of Cronkite News and professor of practice added:

“We’re thrilled to see our Cronkite News students’ work recognized – in both student and professional categories – by the LA Press Club. It’s an honor to see their work not only highlighted in the nation’s second-largest media market, but competing alongside journalism powerhouses.”

Cronkite Dean Battinto L. Batts Jr. also offered his praise of the students’ award-winning work.

“These awards show that the journalism produced by Cronkite students is top-notch. It reflects the dedication they have to our profession and it reflects the dedication that our faculty have to our students,” said Batts. “We are grateful to the LA Press Club for recognizing their extraordinary journalism.”

Cronkite winners in the professional categories:

Environmental Reporting – Print/Online

Second place: Sarah Donahue, Cronkite News/LA Bureau, “Clean Energy Produced on Navajo Land Could Help Power Los Angeles”

Solutions Journalism – Series or Single Story

Third place: Sarah Donahue, Cronkite News/LA Bureau, “Urban Farm Provides Homeless Shelter Residents With Good Food and Opportunities”

Cronkite winners in the student categories:

Best Feature Writing, Off Campus Issues – Print or Online

First place: Sarah Donahue, Cronkite News at ASU, “Urban Farm Provides Homeless Shelter Residents With Good Food and Opportunities”

Best Personality Profile, Campus Personalities – Any Platform

Third place: Kelsey Collesi, Cronkite News/LA Bureau, Coaches of Color Dominate in the Pac-12

Best TV Reporting, Podcast or Stream

Third place: Kelsey Collesi, Cronkite News/LA Bureau, Coaches of Color Dominate in the Pac-12