The Orange County Press Club Board of Directors is honored to posthumously recognize Fred Swegles with the 2023 Sky Dunlap Award at the 2023 Excellence in Journalism Awards at 6 p.m. on June 15 at Anaheim Hills Golf Course.

The Press Club’s highest honor will be announced in conjunction with our “In Memorium” presentation of recently deceased journalists, which also includes nationally-recognized baseball writer Jean Hastings Ardell and Los Angeles Times reporter Greg Yee.

A longtime Orange County newsman who spent his career covering San Clemente and its neighboring towns, Swegles died on Oct. 23, 2022, after suffering health complications because of a brain tumor. He was 74.

Swegles’ portfolio of work spanned more than 50 years, having previously reported for the Daily Sun-Post and Orange County Register. In 2018, Swegles launched his CoastLines column with San Clemente Times.

“Fred Swegles is an institution in Orange County journalism. His tireless efforts over five decades to cover his beloved hometown of San Clemente are a testament to the impact one journalist can have on their readers. Our board’s decision to honor Fred was unanimous and we sincerely wish it had arrived before his passing,” said Daniel Langhorne, president of Orange County Press Club.

The Sky Dunlap Award is given out at the Press Club’s annual awards gala and honors someone for lifetime achievement and community service in Orange County journalism. It is named for John William “Sky” Dunlap, 1912-68, who owned and published the Globe, an independent newspaper.

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

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.

The new year’s Orange County Press Club Board of Directors welcomes two new members and a new president.

Daniel Langhorne will serve as the press club’s new president, new board member Brandon Pho will serve as vice president, and Shawn Raymundo joins the board for the first time.

“I’m humbled by my fellow board members’ confidence in me to lead the Press Club as its next president,” Langhorne said by email shortly after his election by the board Thursday.

“We’re committed to defending the First Amendment, mentoring the next generation of journalists, and diversifying our ranks to reflect the communities we cover.”

Langhorne has served on the Board of Directors since 2018. He is currently executive editor for the Laguna Beach Independent and engagement editor for a nonprofit newsroom, The War Horse. As an Orange County Press Club scholarship winner, he believes the Press Club plays an important role in fostering the skill and talent of young journalists, who are needed more than ever.

Incoming vice president Pho is a reporter for Voice of OC covering North Central Orange County. Pho was the senior editor for his college newspaper, The Daily Titan at Cal State Fullerton, where his work garnered first place honors at the Los Angeles Press Club and the College Media Association.

“It’s an honor to join the OC Press Club Board of Directors — and as Vice President, at that,” Pho said.

“I’m encouraged by the support I’ve gotten from the rest of the board and am chomping at the bit to outreach and expand our local press corps to include younger, Gen-Z journalists such as myself, as well as newsmakers with something new to say about our fast-changing region.

Patty Marsters continues as the board’s treasurer and administrator of the annual awards contest. She has served on the board of the Orange County Press Club since 1998, acting in many roles. For the past several years, she has focused her organizational skills on putting together the annual Excellence In Journalism contest. After 24 years at OC Weekly, she moved on to the similarly LW Weekly, the newspaper for Leisure World Seal Beach. She also mentors aspiring writers at Newport Harbor High School and co-leads a multilevel Girl Scout troop.

Bradley Zint will continue as board secretary. He is the assistant director of communications for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange. Prior to joining the Diocese, he worked in newspapers, marketing and for B2B publications. Much of his newspapering career was spent at the Daily Pilot, part of the Los Angeles Times Community News division based in Orange County. In his role at the press club, he focuses on the annual awards dinner and organizing events for working journalists.

The other 2021-22 board members include:

SHAWN RAYMUNDO

Shawn Raymundo is a city editor for the San Clemente Times and is running for a seat on the Press Club Board for the first time. Here is his candidate statement:

I’m an Arizona State University alumnus with a bachelor’s degree in Global Studies. During my time at ASU, I worked for the school’s newspaper The State Press, where I held various positions including reporter, photographer and news desk editor.

Prior to living in South Orange County, I spent three years in the U.S. territory of Guam, working as the government accountability reporter for the Pacific Daily News. There, I covered the island’s legislature and governor’s office.

Now, with Picket Fence Media, I’m reporting on the city of San Clemente while also managing the production of the newspaper. My time here has allowed me to cover a range of issues such as nuclear waste and utilities, transportation and mobility, coastal environment, and the never boring subject of local government.

I believe I can be a great fit for the Press Club, and would enjoy the opportunity of collaborating with a group of talented journalists from the area.

BEN BRAZIL

Ben Brazil is a features writer for TimesOC. He previously covered Huntington Beach for the Daily Pilot. Before joining the Daily Pilot in September 2016, he was a reporter for City News Service, a Southern California-based news service.

HANNAH FRY

Hannah has served as an OC Press Club board member for five years and most recently served as club President. She has advocated for press freedom both locally and statewide and has helped organize events such as the annual Journalism Awards Gala. Hannah is a Metro reporter covering Orange County for the Los Angeles Times. She joined the newspaper eight years ago as a reporter for the Daily Pilot, a Times Community News publication. Hannah covered breaking news for The Times for two years and was part of the team that was a 2020 Pulitzer finalist for its coverage of a boat fire that killed 34 people off the coast of Santa Barbara.

KATHY HOBSTETTER

Kathy is an international journalist and has been an OC Press Club board member for five years. Her publication, the iJump Sports Business Journal, has always been based in Orange County. The journal covers the international show jumping horse business, which has a financial impact of millions on the economy and the people and businesses who are in the sport. She has lived in Orange County since 1965. She enjoyed promoting and writing about a wide variety of subjects and she wrote extensively as a freelance journalist before opening her own magazine.

SONYA QUICK

Sonya Quick is a digital editor, reporter and educator with more than 15 years of experience in news. She is digital editor at Voice of OC where she manages online fundraising, marketing, engagement, digital storytelling and user experience. In addition to working at Voice of OC, she teaches digital journalism at Chapman University. Previously, she worked for eight years at the Orange County Register as a digital and engagement editor, reporter, infographics storyteller and as the Register’s first mobile editor. She has more than decade of experience in leading efforts to create more connected journalism across devices, social platforms and audience types. Her career of work includes editing, reporting, designing infographics, researching data, developing mobile apps, refining user experiences, managing fundraising efforts, engagement on social media, guiding newsroom groups towards transformation and designing complete marketing roll-outs.

DAVID N. YOUNG

David is a working journalist and internationally recognized public affairs strategist who has worked in a variety of public capacities throughout his career. Currently, he is an editor with Community Media Corporation and has formerly served as editor of the Catalina Islander, the Seal Beach Sun and other publications. Based for many years in Washington, D.C., he now lives and works in Southern California. As a strategist, has counseled local, state, and federal agencies, Fortune 500 companies, public officials and nonprofits. He was awarded the journalism award in high school, the telecasting innovation award in college and was first named to Who’s Who in America in 1994.  He attended the LSU School of Journalism and studied broadcasting at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. His work has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Information Agency and others.