The Press Democrat was named the best newspaper of its size in California, earning the top award for general excellence this month in the state’s largest journalism contest.
In addition, The Press Democrat won 15 other top honors for investigative and breaking-news reporting, coverage of local government, the environment, agriculture and youth and education.
“The class of California daily journalism,” read the judge’s citation for general excellence, which grades newspapers not only on their journalistic content, but also on their overall design, presentation and advertising excellence.
The Press Democrat was recognized as best in class among papers with 15,000 to 50,000 print subscribers — a category that includes all but a handful of the largest metro papers and the state’s smaller dailies.
Overall, the newspaper and its website, pressdemocrat.com, won 41 awards for print and digital journalism in the annual contest, which is organized by the California News Publishers Association, the state’s largest media trade group.
Among those honors, the newspaper received the top two of the three awards given for investigative reporting in its circulation division.
Reporter Andrew Graham and watchdog columnist Marisa Endicott won for their 11-part series on the flawed Fire Victim Trust set up by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to compensate survivors of the 2017 North Bay firestorm and other wildfires tied to the utility.
Reporter Alana Minkler and photographer Beth Schlanker won top awards for their enterprise series on the Yuki tribe of Northern California’s long fight for recognition and justice, culminating with the name change last year of the University of California’s San Francisco-based law school.
The Press Democrat’s monthlong, special coverage of the 5-year anniversary of the 2017 North Bay firestorm won the top honor for in-depth reporting among papers of its size.
“The scope and sweep of this reporting, and the stories it reveals, is apt and fitting for a newsroom that won a Pulitzer for coverage of the original event five years before,” judges wrote. “Just as the community it covers rebuilt, The Press Democrat has not gone anywhere and indeed is setting the bar for excellence in community journalism for California.”
Four of the 16 first place awards, for breaking news reporting, coverage of local government, news and feature photo, were for digital journalism judged against work by the largest news organizations in the state.
In that same field, the newspaper’s coverage of the sexual harassment and retaliation scandal at Sonoma State University and resignation of campus president Judy Sakaki earned the second place award for public service journalism, one of the most prestigious honors.
“Excellent example of dogged reporting that combines material from public records requests, interviews, public statements and other information sources,” read the judge’s citation. “The hits just kept coming from The Press Democrat staff.”
Richard A. Green, executive editor of The Press Democrat and chief content officer for its parent company, Sonoma Media Investments, said the recognition reflects the entire staff’s dedication to serving the community.
“I’ve always said we don’t do this for the awards, but it’s always nice when hard work of our staff is recognized by our peers in the industry,” Green said. “Our goal is first and foremost to serve our readers with quality, high-impact journalism, and to have that journalism honored as the best in our class in all of California is truly special. ”
Overall, Sonoma Media Investment publications won 77 awards in the contest.
The honors, announced over two weeks this month, recognized journalism published in 2022.
In most categories, entries were judged against work produced by daily newspapers in California with 15,000 to 50,000 subscribers. In others, including digital and open entries, the work was judged against the largest media outlets in the state.
Senior reporter Mary Callahan won the top award for environmental reporting by circulation division — and two of the three awards in that category — for stories on the rising menace of megafloods in the new climate era and the protracted struggle over logging of century-old redwoods on state land in Mendocino County.
Senior photojournalist Kent Porter took home the top two awards for news and sports feature photos by circulation division, as well as the top two news and feature photo awards in the digital division.
