LONG BEACH—The Telescope staff participated in workshops at a packed national journalism conference with over 800 attendees, networked with industry pros, and won some awards.
The conference was hosted by the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP), the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC), and the California College Media Association (CCMA). It took place from March 6 to 8, and community colleges and universities nationwide competed, networked, and developed their skills.
The Telescope won nine awards across both of its publications.
“It really made all those late nights and stressful meetings worth it, and it has fired me up to continue to improve this semester and beyond. It also really stokes my passion to see our whole newsroom winning and improving,” Victoria Gudmundson, opinion editor and art director, said.
The staff won a General Excellence award for The Telescope website and the Winter 2024 edition of IMPACT Magazine.
Cyndi Cunningham, Gabi Blanco, Monica Garcia, and Victoria Gudmundson all took home second-place awards in magazine design/layout. Cunningham, editor-in-chief and news editor, also won third place in magazine profile article and third place in the on-the-spot news writing contest. Garcia, arts editor, also won an honorable mention in the on-the-spot copy editing contest. Gudmundson, opinion editor and art director, won third place in illustration.
Sports Editor Connor Larson and photographer Hector Flores won an honorable mention in sports feature article/photo essay. Flores also won an honorable mention in the sports feature photo.
“It feels good to win an award because it shows that my work and effort doesn’t go unnoticed, and I’m thankful that my photos were considered for an award,” Flores said.
Attendees could attend events led by experts in journalism, including Executive Director of the Lexington Herald-Leader Rick Green, University of Miami Professor Randy Stano, award-winning photojournalist Gerard Burkhart, and The Athletic Lead Columnist Marcus Thompson II.
“The conference was fucking awesome… I learned a lot about design, and I hope to bring my learnings to the next magazine design and projects moving forward,” Gabi Blanco said.
Each day of the event also featured a keynote speaker, and while The Telescope staff said they felt the Thursday speaker, Hannah Fry from the LA Times, was lackluster, they were impressed by the Friday and Saturday presentations.
On Friday, staff from Pepperdine Graphic Media discussed the importance of building a relationship with the community and shared their experience covering the Palisades Fire through an empathetic lens. Saturday, Dilan Gohill from the Stanford Daily shared his story of getting arrested while covering a pro-Palestine protest.
While most of the staff had a good experience, many experienced at least one workshop where the room was packed, but the speaker was not there. The Telescope staff also had complications with three JACC on-the-spot competitions: sports writing, sports photo, and critical review.
“The sports writing and broadcasting workshops helped me to gain new knowledge and get ideas about how to improve my writing, reporting, and coverage of sports for our publication. JACC wasn’t perfect, as the sports writing competition debacle led to confusion and an unfair field for photographers and writers,” Connor Larson said.
The on-the-spot sports writing and sports photo competitors were met with confusion and last-minute changes. Over 30 photographers signed up for the men’s volleyball game at California State University Long Beach, but only 10 were granted photo access, according to an email sent by JACC.
Despite the challenges of confusing competitions and presenters not showing up, The Telescope staff still took home advice and passion to share with the newsroom.
“It’s nice to take a step back and acknowledge that my work has paid off and that I’m on the right track. I’m also ridiculously proud of our team and the dedication and passion that surround us. I’m glad that our work is being acknowledged and valued,” Monica Garcia said.
