Buy Tickets Today for the OC Press Club 2023 Awards Gala
The Orange County Press Club annual awards celebration is back.
The gala will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 15 at the Clubhouse at Anaheim Hills, 6501 E. Nohl Ranch Road in Anaheim.
Parking is free and we’ll have a cash bar.
As of June 12, we are at capacity for the 2023 Awards Gala!
We are keeping costs at previous levels for the gala tickets. But our costs have increased. Please consider an extra tax-deductible donation (we are a 501c3) below to support the gala and our work (supporting student scholarships and other similar work).
OC Press Club Joins Coalition’s Response to City of LA Lawsuit Filed Against Reporter
The following joint statement was released on April 7, 2023.
The Los Angeles Journalists Coalition opposes a lawsuit by the City of Los Angeles against journalist Ben Camacho and Stop LAPD Spying Coalition. The lawsuit seeks to ban further publication of documents the City itself released and which have already been distributed to the public.
The City’s sweeping demand for censorship defies logic as well as the First Amendment. The City Attorney’s additional threat of law enforcement seizure sends a chilling warning to any journalist or individual who would lawfully use the Public Records Act to learn about their own government.
By now, members of the public and other news organizations have seen and likely downloaded these images. The City’s demanded injunction against Camacho and a grassroots advocacy group would punish both with silence while others would retain the full power to continue to publish and disseminate these images.
If the City is truly seeking to protect the undercover police officers whose identities it released, the City is now only drawing even more attention to those officers’ identities through its aggressive and unreasonable encroachment on press freedoms. Further pursuit of this ill-considered lawsuit can only do more harm than good.
Asian American Journalists Association, Los Angeles
CCNMA Latino Journalists of California
Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists
IWW Freelance Journalists Union
Los Angeles Press Club
Media Guild of the West, The NewsGuild-CWA Local 39213
National Association of Black Journalists of Los Angeles
National Association of Hispanic Journalists
National Press Photographers Association
National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, Los Angeles Chapter
Ismael Parra, as chair of the National Writers Union, SoCal Chapter
Online News Association Los Angeles
Orange County Press Club
Radio Television Digital News Association
Society of Professional Journalists
OC Press Club Board Adds 2 Members
Orange County Press Club members have elected two new board members in addition to re-electing the vast majority of the Board of Directors.
Caitlin Antonios, dining reporter for the Southern California News Group, and Jeremy Shermak, journalism instructor and faculty adviser to Coast Report at Orange Coast College, have joined following the election.
“Caitlin and Jeremy are exceptional additions to the Board of Directors,” Board President Daniel Langhorne said. “Their unique experiences will help us amplify the voices of Orange County journalists and continue defending a free press.”
Re-elected to the board are:
Hannah Fry
Kathy Hobstetter
Daniel Langhorne
Patty Marsters
Brandon Pho
Sonya Quick
Shawn Raymundo
David N. Young
OC Press Club Opens Voting for 2022-23 Board of Directors
The Orange County Press Club named a slate of highly-qualified candidates to serve on its 2022-23 Board of Directors on November 14.
OC Press Club members are invited to cast their votes for candidates until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, November 18. Click here to access the ballot.
The Board of Directors would like to thank departing board members Benjamin Brazil and Bradley Zint for their leadership and dedication to the region’s journalism community.
OC Press Club Joins Journalism Organizations in Calling on CA High School Principal to Drop Disciplinary Action Against NAHJ Academic Officer
The Orange County Press Club has signed on to the following joint action letter:
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) in solidarity with a coalition of Southern California and national journalism organizations are calling on a California high school principal to immediately drop disciplinary action taken against teacher Adriana Chavira, a respected journalism mentor and NAHJ’s Academic At-Large Officer, for refusing to censor her students’ reporting.
The students at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School in the San Fernando Valley wrote a story published last fall about mandatory vaccinations for public school teachers. They named a teacher-librarian at their school who didn’t want to be vaccinated and didn’t show up for work.
The librarian asked Chavira to remove her name from the story. Chavira declined. Students aren’t bound by federal HIPAA or by confidentiality/privacy laws to remove the librarian’s name. The story is factual, and Chavira has supported the students and their First Amendment right to name the teacher-librarian. California’s education code also upholds their right to exercise their freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
In response, Pearl High Principal Armen Petrossian notified Chavira last Thursday that she will be subject to a three-day, unpaid suspension. Chavira is appealing the action. The issue of censorship isn’t unique to Daniel Pearl High School. Over the years, attempts to censor student newspapers and punish educators who serve as news advisors have become far too common, mirroring the challenges facing journalists nationwide.
“The fear of repercussions from authorities can often cause emerging journalists to self-censor, producing a media landscape dominated by commentary and social media feeds rather than news stories that hold those in power to account,” said Yvette Cabrera, NAHJ President. “Adriana Chavira has years of experience working with students to create journalism that matters. She is an invaluable resource to our next generation of journalists and a vital member of the NAHJ Board. She has our full support.”
High school is a foundational period in a student’s educational development. Attitudes toward democracy and how to engage in civil disagreement are forged within a school’s walls, and students should be nurtured and encouraged to become active, engaged and responsible citizens. Principal Petrossian’s actions work contrary to this by attempting to silence the voices of student journalists and obstruct them from freely reporting a matter of public concern to their school community.
A 2022 Knight Foundation report on the First Amendment revealed that nearly 40% of high school students have not taken a single class on the First Amendment, despite its importance to all citizens, not just journalists. The report also found that while a majority of high school students believe that the First Amendment protects them personally, “they are far less likely to feel the protection of these rights than are college students, teachers and adults in America.”
The Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists also expressed its support for Chavira, and condemned Petrossian’s handling of the matter.
“SPJ/LA stands with our colleagues in the professional journalism community in protesting Daniel Pearl Magnet High School’s treatment of student newspaper adviser Adriana Chavira,” said Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins, president of SPJ/LA. “The administration’s conduct dishonors the man for whom the school is named, a journalist who literally gave his life to the cause of informing his readers and reporting the truth. We urge them to reconsider their actions, and instead reaffirm their support for their faculty member and for robust, independent student journalism.”
Other Southern California and national journalism organizations also spoke up in defense of Chavira.
“High school journalism advisors train the next generation of journalists, and they should not be penalized for defending their students’ First Amendment rights to free speech and freedom of the press,” said journalism professor Sharyn Obsatz, co-organizer of the Online News Association Los Angeles group.
Our organizations applaud Chavira’s commitment to the First Amendment and her students, and urge Principal Petrossian to do the right thing: rescind the suspension. We also call on the Los Angeles Unified School District, which is the second largest public school district in the country, to ensure that its administrators abide by the state education code and the Constitution to guarantee the rights of student journalists are protected.
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Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists
National Press Photographers Association
Online News Association Los Angeles
Orange County Press Club
Radio Television Digital News Association
OC Press Club Mourns Courts Reporter
Jeanne Wright, who covered courts at the Register in the 1980s, passed away this year after a long battle with early Alzheimer’s. Colleagues remember Jeanne as a smart, beautiful, loving woman and great journalist with an infectious laugh. She is survived by her husband, Ralph Vartabedian, and their two adult children.
RSVP Now: OC Press Club Awards Gala
The Orange County Press Club annual awards celebration is back.
The gala will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 30 at the Clubhouse at Anaheim Hills, 6501 E. Nohl Ranch Road in Anaheim.
Gustavo Arellano of Los Angeles Times will be the guest emcee for the event along with Kedric Francis, editor-in-chief of Blue Door Magazine.
RSVP today. Purchase your tickets using the PayPal link below.
OC Press Club joins journalists standing with Alene Tchekmedyian
The following statement is from more than a dozen organizations representing thousands of working journalists and First Amendment advocates. Orange County Press Club’s Board of Directors agreed to join our colleagues in standing up for a free press.
Journalism is not a crime. Our community of journalism associations, media unions and First Amendment advocates stands in solidarity with Los Angeles Times reporter Alene Tchekmedyian and all journalists who are threatened or harassed by law enforcement.
Today, the Los Angeles County Sheriff suggested that Alene is a subject in a criminal investigation into a leaked video showing a deputy kneeling on an inmate’s head. In recent weeks, Alene has reported on claims alleging that the Sheriff obstructed justice and retaliated against whistleblowers who raised concerns about the incident. This escalation comes after a years-long history of the Sheriff harshly criticizing many local journalists just for doing their jobs, including Cerise Castle, Josie Huang, Maya Lau and others.
For over 50 years, the Supreme Court has upheld the First Amendment right to publish information of public concern received by members of the press or public. For the Sheriff to suggest otherwise is an unconscionable attempt to deter the press from exercising its long-established right to report on abuses of power.
We condemn these outrageous attacks on newsgathering, and we remain committed to supporting journalism that reports on the facts without fear or favor.
Media Guild of the West, The NewsGuild-CWA Local 39213
Los Angeles Times Guild
Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists
First Amendment Coalition
Radio Television Digital News Association
Asian American Journalists Association, Los Angeles
Online News Association Los Angeles
CCNMA Latino Journalists of California
Los Angeles Press Club
National Association of Black Journalists of Los Angeles
National Association of Hispanic Journalists
National Press Photographers Association
Open Vallejo / Informed California Foundation
We Make KPBS (SAG-AFTRA)
SPJ San Diego
SPJ Northern California
ACLU of Southern California
Susan E. Seager, Adjunct Clinical Professor of Law, Press Freedom clinic at the University of California, Irvine School of Law
Orange County Press Club
Californians Aware
Media Alliance
OC Press Club mourns veteran copy editor
The Orange County Press Club is saddened to learn that our colleague Dennis Brosterhous has died.
Since 2015, Brosterhous had served as a copy editor for Los Angeles Times Community News in Fountain Valley, helping publish The Daily Pilot and Times OC. Working the night shift, Brosterhous answered calls from feverish reporters needing an eleventh-hour edit on a story.
“I can’t tell you how lucky the younger people at the Daily Pilot were to have their work edited by a journeyman like Dennis. He was never judgmental; he took pride in pointing out our errors but did so in the manner of a teacher, not a critic,” Los Angles Times assistant managing editor John Canalis said.
Brosterhous worked hard all his life and never retired.
“I wish he had, but this is a hard line of work to give up once it’s in your blood,” Canalis added.
A Sun City resident, Brosterhous worked as a copy editor and designer for The Press-Enterprise in Riverside from 1998 to 2009.
Before that, he served as managing editor of The Sun City News and its sister community newspapers (Menifee News and Perris Valley News), according to his resume.
Brosterhous earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Southern California and an associate’s degree in English/Journalism from Long Beach City College.
Colleagues also described him as decent, funny, and smart. Brosterhous was an avid Dodgers fan and looked forward to attending games with his children for his birthday or on Fathers’ Day.
“He was so kind to us cub reporters and always willing to help out on a tight deadline,” Los Angeles Times reporter Faith E. Pinho said.
OC Press Club Opens 2022 Award Submissions
The OC Press Club is opening this year’s award submissions and looks forward to recognizing the county’s best journalism produced in 2021.
In addition to a continuing pandemic, 2021 was the year local journalists covered the siege of our nation’s capital, the effects of massive shipping delays, the tensions surrounding the gubernatorial recall election and more. Orange County journalists faced all these reporting challenges despite COVID protocols and an ever-shifting media landscape.
The OC Press Club is dedicated to shining a light on Orange County’s strong journalism community, and with the help of journalist judges across the country, it will recognize the great writing, photography, designing, illustrations, broadcasts and more from its members. New this year is the Journalist of the Year award, a nominated category which recognizes a journalist whose work stood out last year in the eyes of their peers.
View the full list of award categories and how to enter submissions HERE. Be sure to review the rules and categories carefully, as some have been updated.
People who submit by April 24 will get the “early bird” rate of $5 per entry (rather than the full price of $10 per entry).