Bay Area News Group staff honored by publishers association

The California News Publishers Association recently honored several Bay Area News Group reporters, editors and photographers with awards for their work in 2023. The awards ceremony took place Saturday evening, July 13, in Universal City.

The Mercury News and East Bay Times won first place in three categories: film and TV writing/reporting, artistic photo, and print front page layout and design.

The list of awards in alphabetical order are as follows:

Agriculture reporting
Fifth place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “As the Bay Area urbanizes around it, Livermore is one of the last ag cities standing,” Will McCarthy

Artistic photo
First place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “U.S Gymnastics Championship,” Jose Fajardo

Breaking News
Fourth place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Pac-12 survival: Oregon, Washington deliver death blow, leave for Big Ten,” “Arizona, ASU, Utah defect to Big 12,” “What’s next for Oregon State, Washington State, Stanford and Cal after mass exodus to Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 collapse,” “Tracing 12 strategic blunders that led to Doomsday,”  Jon Wilner

Columns

Second place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Seeno v. Seeno becoming building empire’s ‘War of the Roses,” “The Oakland A’s haven’t announced they’re leaving, county officials bizarrely claim,” Dan Borenstein

Coverage of Youth and Education

Fifth place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “They spent their lives teaching California’s children. Now, they say they’re spending their retirement paying for it,” Elissa Miolene, Molly Gibbs

Editorial Comment

Fourth place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “VTA’s San Jose BART extension costs surging out of control,” Dan Borenstein

Enterprise News Story or Series

Fifth place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “California exodus package: ‘Mood is dark’: 80% of Bay Area voters see state of big three downtowns as serious problem, poll finds,’ ‘Wealthy resident departures worsen ‘doom loop’ fears,’ 5 charts that explain the California and Bay Area exodus,’ ‘Top destination for Bay Area transplants isn’t in Texas or Florida. It’s … Seattle?'” Ethan Varian, Julia Prodis Sulek, Scooty Nickerson

Film and TV Writing/Reporting

First place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “The strange, sad tale of Sacheen Littlefeather: Did icon fake a Native American identity?” Martha Ross

Illustration

Second place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “‘What are the real Vegas odds?,’ ‘Rewriting the Future of learning,'” Jeff Durham

Immigration Reporting

Third place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “A migrant family’s odyssey: 7,100 miles from Venezuela seeking new life in San Jose,” John Woolfolk, Josie Lepe

News Photo

Fourth place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Brentwood Flooding,” Jose Fajardo

Photo Story/Essay

Fifth place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Pajaro Flooding,” Ray Chavez, Shae Hammond

Photojournalism

Second place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Best photography from staff of Mercury News/East Bay Times”

Print Front Page Layout & Design

First place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Texas? Florida? Nope. Bay Area Refugees are fleeing to Seattle,” Chris Gotsill, Pai, Scooty Nickerson

Print Inside Page Layout & Design

Second place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Eat, Drink, Play – Sausalito,” Jackie Burrell, Judy Sanfield

Print Special Section

Third place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Outdoors” magazine, Jackie Burrell, Chris Gotsill, David Jack Browning

Print Special Section Cover

Third place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Bookish,” “Kickoff” and “Outdoors” magazine, Jackie Burrell, Chris Gotsill, Laurence Miedema, David Jack Browning

Sports Feature Story

Fifth place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Life-saving blown save? SF Giants pitching coach Bailey reflects on 10th anniversary of Boston Marathon bombings,” Jason Mastrodonato

Writing

Third place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Parents grieve tiniest victims of California storms: One died instantly, the other is the ‘little boy we’re still trying to find,” Julia Prodis Sulek