L.A. Times Earns Multiple Honors in Sacramento Press Club’s Journalism Awards Competition
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The Los Angeles Times has earned six awards and five finalists nods in the Sacramento Press Club’s fifth annual Golden State Journalism Awards contest. The awards, honoring exceptional politics and policy journalism published in 2024, were presented at a dinner in Sacramento on May 21.
The Times received honors in a wide range of categories, including impact journalism, Capitol enterprise, education reporting, public health reporting, feature photography and spot news photography.
Among the honors, Times Staff Writers Melody Gutierrez and Alene Tchekmedyian were recognized in two categories — impact journalism and Capitol enterprise — for the investigation “Pets for profit,” which called attention to California’s brutal, unregulated and lucrative puppy market. “This was deeply reported, powerfully written journalism,” the competition judges wrote. “The exhaustive work, relying on extensive data and accountability efforts, produced a story that does what journalism always strives to do: shine a light where others won’t and get results.”
Below is a complete list of The Times’ winners and finalists:
Impact in Journalism
Winner: Melody Gutierrez and Alene Tchekmedyian for the investigation Pets for profit.
Capitol Enterprise
Winner: Melody Gutierrez and Alene Tchekmedyian, for the investigation Pets for profit.
Daily Capitol Beat Reporting
Finalist: Taryn Luna
Criminal Justice Reporting
Finalist: Jessica Garrison and Anita Chabria for their investigative series examining how police interrogation tactics have led to false confessions.
Education Reporting
Winner: Teresa Watanabe for her reporting on University of California and a profile on Gov. Newsom’s top education aide.
Public Health Reporting
Winner: Paige St. John, Alex Halperin, Sean Greene and Lorena Iñiguez Elebee for their Dirty weed investigation, which found alarming levels of pesticides in cannabis products available in dispensaries across the state.
Opinion/Commentary
Finalist: Robert Greene
Feature Photography
Winner: Robert Gauthier for a series of photos depicting the struggles of immigrants.
Spot News Photography
Winner: Robert Gauthier for a photo of police clashing with protesters at UC Irvine.
2024 Election Reporting
Finalists: Laura Nelson, Laurel Rosenhall and Mackenzie Mays
For the full list of honorees, visit sacpressclub.org.
