Sacramento Bee wins general excellence award, other honors at California Journalism Awards
The Sacramento Bee took home numerous top honors this week from the California News Publishers Association, including first place for general excellence among online publications across the state.
The CNPA announced winners and finalists this week for the California Journalism Awards, recognizing outstanding work published in 2020.
In addition to general excellence for websites in the highest visitor-count category, judges awarded Bee investigative reporter Jason Pohl first place for a story revealing that Sacramento County bail bond amounts spiked as domestic violence surged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bee visual journalists also took first place in three print photography categories — one each for news, feature photography and sports.
CNPA judges awarded The Bee with nearly three-dozen additional Top 5 honors for its printed and digital content, including coverage of protests and racial justice last summer; local elections; wildfires; youth and education; investigations; page layout; graphics; and video journalism.
Pohl took second place in investigative reporting for “Blackout on Lone Star Road,” a deep dive last December into the prison sentencing of bus driver Quinton Watts. CNPA judges also awarded the story’s digital package second place for story presentation and design. Watts in 2021 was released from prison early, weeks after Pohl’s original story was published.
The Bee’s health reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic earned second, third and fifth-place honors in that category, for stories reporting on underprepared rural hospitals, by Pohl and Ryan Sabalow; on a large ventilator contract signed by the Newsom administration, by Pohl, Sabalow and Dale Kasler; and infection-control violations by nursing homes, by Pohl and Michael Finch II.
Visual journalist Daniel Kim earned both first and third place in news photography: first for his images of the John Sutter statue being removed, and third for a shot captured during a protest against stay-at-home orders at the Capitol.
Kim additionally came first and second in feature photography: first for his image of masked Sacramento Zoo employees checking up on a pelican, and second for a memorable shot of Gov. Gavin Newsom taking a peek at First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom while she cast her ballot on Election Day.
Paul Kitagaki Jr. received first place in sports feature photography, along with third and fourth place finishes in sports action photography for his coverage of the 49ers.
Renée C. Byer’s photograph of a 2,000 person “die-in” won second place for coverage of protests and racial justice, and Kitagaki and Kim were also honored for their visual coverage of wildfires.
Education reporter Sawsan Morrar and data journalist Phillip Reese earned second place in youth and education coverage for a piece examining why inexperienced teachers are prevalent at low-income schools in Sacramento.
Reporters Kasler, Pohl, Sabalow and Sam Stanton were recognized with top-five honors for wildfire news and feature stories, as they documented one of the state’s worst wildfire seasons in modern history and some of the root causes behind California’s fire danger.
Visual journalists Sohail Al-Jamea and Neil Nakahodo, along with editorial cartoonist Jack Ohman, took a second-place award for their video animation, “2020: An Illustrated Timeline.” The judges said: “What a way to sum up multiple, major events in 2020. There was so much detail in the illustrations, which all covered so many different aspects of all the events. The walking Trump throughout the piece kept everything centered. The humor was the icing on the cake!”
This story was originally published May 18, 2021 at 11:20 AM.
