Orange Coast College's student-run newspaper, Coast Report, won state and national honors in October 2023 for its production in the 2022-2023 academic year, adding 19 more accolades to its decorated list of achievements, including first-place honors for its website.
During the College Media Association (CMA) and the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) Fall National College Media Convention, the nation's largest gathering of collegiate journalists, media students, and their advisers, student journalists from Coast Report nabbed six accolades from Oct. 29-Nov. 2 in Atlanta.
Along with first place for Two-Year Newspaper Website of the Year, Coast Report also received second place for Two-Year Best College Media Group of the Year and third place for Division III & Two-Year Website of the Year (standalone) categories at the CMA Pinnacle College Media Awards. Kate Bent, former Editor in Chief, was awarded first place in ACP's Individual Award for her editorial, "Student journalists need support now more than ever," and received fifth place for Two-Year School Reporter of the Year from candidates across the nation. Reporter Anna Tran received an honorable mention in the Editorial Cartoon category.
The Coast Report received 13 more awards from the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) SoCal Regional Conference, held Oct. 21 at California State University of Northridge.
JACC SoCal Publication Award Winners for Fall 2023 included a first-place win for Timothy Hessen's Sports Game Story for his coverage of the women's basketball national championship journey. Coast Report added a podcast series to its offering and, in its first semester up and running, won second place in the Podcast/Audio News category. Liz Hanna, Stephanie Morales, and Vie Cabrera collaborated for an Online Photo Story/Essay piece to capture third place, while Stephanie Morales and Vie Cabrera placed fourth for their Video Journalism work on OCC's art gallery, The Doyle. For In the News Photo category, Stephanie Morales was awarded fourth place covering Horticulture's annual plant sale.
Honorable mentions went to Liz Hanna for Profile Feature Story and Critical Review, Kate Meyers for Editorial, Colin Sweeney and Kate Bent for Online Photo Story/Essay, and Colin Sweeney for Photo Illustration. Also honored were Kate Bent, Kate Meyers, and Timothy Hessen for Enterprise News Story/Series. Garnering double awards for their work recognized nationally, Kate Bent won second place for her Editorial, and Anna Tran won fourth for her Editorial Cartoon.