October 28, 2020

The Corsair Wins Pinnacle Awards 2019-2020

BLM Front Page
The front page of an award-winning Corsair photo page. SMC’s student media outlet The Corsair won a second place national Pinnacle Award from the College Media Association in the Best Newspaper Photo Page/Spread category. The photos of a Black Lives Matter protest were taken by Yasamin Jafari Tehrani. (Marco Pallotti, Photo Editor. Carolyn Burt, Digital Editor.)

SMC Corsair Wins Multiple National Pinnacle Awards

Includes a First-Place Award for Website of the Year & Second-Place for Best Newspaper Photo Spread

SANTA MONICA, CA—The Santa Monica College (SMC) student media outlet The Corsair has won several 2019-2020 national Pinnacle Awards—including first place for Website of the Year among two year-colleges—in a nationwide contest organized by the College Media Association (CMA). The awards were announced on the association’s website.

A complete list of the Corsair’s Pinnacle wins for 2019-2020:

  • Third-Place, Two-Year Best College Media Outlet of the Year
  • Honorable Mention, Two-Year Newspaper of the Year
  • First Place, Two-Year Website of the Year
  • Second Place, Best Newspaper Photo Page/Spread (“No Justice, No Peace” Black Lives Matter Cover Photo by Yasamin Jafari Tehrani. Marco Pallotti, Photo Editor. Carolyn Burt, Digital Editor.)
  • Honorable Mention, Best General News Photo (Yasamin Jafari Tehrani)

“The Spring 2020 semester was challenging to say the least for The Corsair team as they transitioned to a completely online environment. To watch their dedication to producing quality content for SMC’s students, faculty and staff while also dealing with a global pandemic was in a word, impressive,” said SMC Journalism Professor Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins. “This recognition by the College Media Association just proves how talented our student journalists really are and how all their hard work continues to pay off.”

A full listing of all the 2019-2020 Pinnacle Awards is available on the CMA website collegemedia.org.

The Corsair staff produces a bi-weekly newspaper in the spring and fall semesters, currently available on issuu.com/corsair.website, and it is also online at thecorsaironline.com. SMC Journalism Professor Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins advises The Corsair. Photojournalism Professor Gerard Burkhart serves as the photo adviser. 

Santa Monica College is a California Community College accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).