NEW YORK — From New York City to San Francisco, The Telescope collected 32 awards March 7, starting with 10 honors at the College Media Association (CMA) conference in New York City attended by eight staff members.
Journalism students from across the country gathered at the CMA conference from March 5-7 for hands-on learning experiences in photography, writing, social media, broadcast and radio. The attending staff participated in networking opportunities, media critiques, and curated workshops run by industry professionals.
“It’s inspiring to be around not only professionals in our fields but also the students from other schools,” Editor-in-Chief Victoria Gudmundson said. “It’s an opportunity to see what other schools are doing well and take some inspiration back to our newsroom.”
Attendees heard from keynote speakers throughout the conference, including Megan Santaniello and Matt Shortis, David Covucci and Doualy Xaykaothao.
On the final day of the conference, the CMA honored student journalists with the David L. Adams Apple Awards. This year drew 463 entries across 19 categories.
The Telescope placed in all 10 categories it submitted including: first place for Best Editorial for “Palomar.edu becomes a barrier for students,” second place for Best Crisis Coverage, and third for Best Feature Website.
Staff photographer Devin Sabato won second place for Best Feature Photography for her photo in “From Palomar to Post-punk.”
“I honestly didn’t even know that award show was even going on so to see that I got second place in it randomly I was very surprised. Especially the magazine cover I was like wow that’s pretty freakin’ cool,” Sabato said.
Sabato, Photo Editor Griselda Garcia and Gudmundson won first place for Best Magazine Cover for The Telescope’s Fall 2025 Focus zine; Sabato shot the front cover, Garcia shot the back cover, and Gudmundson handled the design.
“What I’ve learned working with The Telescope so far is that I enjoy being able to work with a team and contributing to physical media but also that I have the freedom to do my own thing on my own as well, it’s a nice balance,” said Sabato.
The same weekend as the New York CMA Conference, San Francisco hosted the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) and the California College Media Association (CCMA) for the Spring National College Media Conference in conjunction with the Associated Collegiate Press.
At the San Francisco conference, The Telescope won awards in 13 different categories from CCMA and nine categories from JACC.
Gudmundson’s opinion article “Our students deserve protection, not silence” placed first at both the Apple Awards and CCMA and second at JACC.
“I always go in not expecting anything because competition is stiff, but that makes me all the more proud to have taken the top prize in two awards and second place at the third,” Gudmundson said. “It was a piece I was really nervous about and I’m thrilled this is where it’s gone.”
Multimedia Editor Evelyn Galan Acevedo won first place at CCMA and second at the Apple awards for Best Podcast with “Telescope Talks | Russell Sheaffer from lecture hall to ‘Playland’ set.”
“It feels really great,” Acevedo said. “It’s my first time getting a journalism award so it makes me happy and proud for my work to be recognized.”
Acevedo’s win was one of several highlights for the staff, which Gudmundson said has grown significantly over the past few years.
“I started with The Telescope a semester with a struggling eight-person staff and it’s so great to see how much it’s grown,” Gudmundson said. “I’m immensely proud of everyone, both the team last semester and the current team, and their contributions to the tradition of award-winning news at Palomar.”