The Oak Leaf recognized by professional press with 28 state and national awards

Michael Combs

Members of The Oak Leaf staff pose with awards won at the 2022 ACP Spring National College Media Convention on March 5 in Long Beach.

Four professional journalism associations recognized The Oak Leaf with one national, three Western-region and 24 state-level awards for articles and photos covering a range of topics including climate change, wildfire and sexual misconduct judged against a diverse group of entries from two-year, four-year and graduate institutions.

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), the California Newspapers Publishers Association (CNPA), the Associated College Press (ACP) and the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) awarded The Oak Leaf multiple first place and general excellence awards for work published during Fall 2021 and on-the-spot contest wins in Spring 2022.

“I’m so excited that our NPR-syndicated ‘Chronic Catastrophe’ podcast won a first-place national award in March from ACP and is now in the running for a second one from SPJ, competing against every college or university in the country with more than 10,000 students,” Oak Leaf Adviser Anne Belden said.

The four-part podcast about the impacts of cumulative, climate change-induced disasters on Sonoma County residents’ minds, bodies and spirits was also recognized as the best student podcast in SPJ’s Region 11, covering California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, Guam and the Mariana Islands. The podcast now proceeds to the national bracket against regional winners from two-year, four-year and graduate programs in SPJ’s 10 other regions.

SPJ also delivered regional finalist nods for in-depth reporting and breaking news photography.

CNPA and JACC each awarded The Oak Leaf an Online General Excellence award, which “reflects the hard work and dedication of the entire Oak Leaf staff,” Belden said.

At the 2022 ACP Spring National College Media Convention, nine of the 10 attending Oak Leaf reporters won at least one “on-the-spot” award for work assigned at the convention and completed on deadline, within hours.

“Oak Leaf students took home more on-the-spot awards than any other California community college attending the spring conference,” Belden said.

Editor-in-Chief Alex Fuller was thrilled by the recognition.

“I would like to think our content standards are higher than other college news organizations, and every single member of the newsroom rises to meet those standards,” Fuller said. “I am so proud of this staff. As long as they continue to produce incredible content, awards are bound to keep rolling in.”