EAST COUNTY MAGAZINE WINS 11 AWARDS FROM SAN DIEGO PRESS CLUB’S 2021 EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM AWARDS

By Miriam Raftery

October 25, 2021 (San Diego) –  East County Magazine tonight received 11 awards in San Diego Press Club’s 48^th annual Excellence In Journalism competition. The honors include three first place awards, recognitions for both our online news site and radio show coverage during the past year’s turbulent times.  ECM’s awards span a broad range of categories, including three of the four awards presented for breaking news. Since its inception in 2008, ECM has won 137 major journalism prizes.

Congratulations to ECM’s award-winning reporting team:  Miriam Raftery, Henri Migala, Helen Horvath, and the late Briana Gomez as well as columnists David Shorey and Paul Levikow.

“I’m proud of our team for once again going all out to report news that matters, even amid a global pandemic and civil unrest, at times risking their own safety to get the stories,” says ECM editor Miriam Raftery. " It's especially poignant to see two posthumous awards honoring works by Briana Gomez, who was such a talented and devoted young journalist."

She adds, “We also thank the Facebook Journalism Project for their generous support through a grant which helped enable our reporting during the pandemic, including several Zoom special reports and interviews as well as our coverage of COVID-19 issues and breaking news."

 Below are ECM's winning stories, radio broadcasts and podcasts:

RADIO AND PODCASTS:

Specialty Reporting:

1^st place, Miriam Raftery, Grossmont Hospital healthcare heroes reflect on pandemic

Interview/Talk: 

1^st place, Miriam Raftery, Interview with Congresswoman Sara Jacobs on capitol attack, impeachment, COVID relief and more

ONLINE AND DAILY NEWS

Breaking News:  

2^nd place, Henri Migala, Man arrested for battery of protesters in La Mesa; ECM photographer also attacked

3^rd place, Miriam Raftery, Violent insurrectionists take over Capitol

Honorable mention, Briana Gomez, Tuesday protest in La Mesa stays peaceful; man briefly detained after displaying pepper spray at protesters

Criminal Justice:

1^st place, Miriam Raftery, LMPD officer in trolley stop incident leaves force; questions of accountability and transparency remain

Election Coverage:

3^rd place, Miriam Raftery: In lively forum, five candidates shared diverse views in El Cajon City Council District 2 race

Environment:

Honorable mention, Henri Migala, Hundreds march to save El Monte Valley

Political/Government:

2^nd place, Briana Gomez and Miriam Raftery, El Cajon Council votes to oust planning commissioner Humbert Cabrera

Real Estate:

2^nd place, Helen Horvath, High prices, low inventory put squeeze on low income and first-time homebuyers during pandemic

Columns, Serious:

Honorable mention, David Shorey and Paul Levikow, Advancing Healthy Communities

For a full list of all winners in San Diego Press Club’s 48^th annual Excellence in Journalism Awards, visit https://issuu.com/sdpressclub/docs/2021_san_diego_press_club_final_winners_announced.

Support award-winnning local journalism! Our reporting reflects the public interest, not special interests. You can help assure coverage of important local issues by making a donation or a sustaining monthly gift at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate.