October 28, 2024

The Corsair, Journalism Students Win Over Two Dozen Regional Awards/Honors

An image from Danilo Perez’s JACC first place winning photo story. Professional Bull Riders being introduced in a circle of flames before the start of the event in Los Angeles, Calif. at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday, Feb.16, 2023. (Photo Credit: Danilo Perez | The Corsair)
An image from Danilo Perez’s JACC first place winning photo story. Professional Bull Riders being introduced in a circle of flames before the start of the event in Los Angeles, Calif. at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday, Feb.16, 2023. (Photo Credit: Danilo Perez | The Corsair)

SMC’s The Corsair, Journalism Students Earn Over Two Dozen Regional Awards & Honors

Includes Society of Professional Journalists Los Angeles honor for former editor-in-chief Cebelihle Hlatshwayo, plus wins announced at the JACC regional conference

SANTA MONICA, CA—Santa Monica College’s (SMC) student-run media outlet The Corsair and its staff won 27 regional awards this month from the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC), including several first-place awards. The students also won meritorious awards for Newspaper General Excellence and Online General Excellence. The awards were announced at the JACC SoCal Conference held Saturday, Oct. 19 at Cal State University-Northridge.

Additionally, on Oct. 23, the Society of Professional Journalists Los Angeles (SPJ/LA) honored Spring 2024 semester Corsair editor-in-chief Cebelihle Hlatshwayo in its emerging/outstanding students category at SPJ/LA’s 48th Distinguished Journalist Awards Banquet. She graduated from SMC in Spring 2024 and transferred to Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Corsair photojournalist Danilo Perez—who won multiple awards at the JACC conference—commutes two hours via train from Azusa to Santa Monica College. His love of photography started in middle school, when his older brother gave him a hand-me-down camera. He started with street photography in high school and has branched out to news, entertainment, and sports photography.

“You really just get to capture the moment,” he said. Perez won first place for his news photo, a team photo essay, and his solo online photo story covering a professional bullriding event. He hopes to work one day for the Associated Press or Reuters.

Spring 2024 semester Corsair editor-in-chief Cebelihle Hlatshwayo with 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker at the Society of Professional Journalists Los Angeles (SPJ/LA) 48th Distinguished Journalist Awards Banquet held Oct. 23. SPJ/LA honored Hlatshwayo in its emerging/outstanding students category.
Spring 2024 semester Corsair editor-in-chief Cebelihle Hlatshwayo with 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker at the Society of Professional Journalists Los Angeles (SPJ/LA) 48th Distinguished Journalist Awards Banquet held Oct. 23. SPJ/LA honored Hlatshwayo in its emerging/outstanding students category.

Hlatshwayo, an international student from South Africa, got a chance to speak with awards banquet keynote speaker Bill Whitaker, a 60 Minutes correspondent. (Whitaker reported live from human rights icon Nelson Mandela’s 1994 inaguration, and Hlatshwayo said her family has watched his TV reports in South Africa.)

The Corsair is also one of six community college newspaper finalists nationwide for the highest award from the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP), the Pacemaker. Winners will be announced on Nov. 2.

Spring 2024 semester Corsair editor-in-chief Cebelihle Hlatshwayo and Danilo Perez at the SPJ/LA 48th Distinguished Journalist Awards Banquet held Oct. 23. Hlatshwayo was honored in the emerging/outstanding students category. Perez won several awards this October from the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC).
Spring 2024 semester Corsair editor-in-chief Cebelihle Hlatshwayo and Danilo Perez at the SPJ/LA 48th Distinguished Journalist Awards Banquet. Hlatshwayo was honored in the emerging/outstanding students category. Perez won several awards this October from the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC).

Awards won for competitions held at the Oct. 19 JACC conference itself were:

  • First Place: Copy Editing, Phoebe Huss
  • Third Place: Feature Photo, Gregory L. Hawthorne
  • Honorable mention: Feature Photo, Lex Lopez

The Corsair won two dozen awards in the mail-in JACC competition, announced Oct. 19:

First Place—News Photo: Danilo Perez; Online Photo Story/Essay: Danilo Perez; Photo Story/Essay: Danilo Perez, Caylo Seals, Jake Crandall, Alexey Nosov, Alejandro Contreras.

Second Place—Critical Review: Taylor Parise; Feature Photo: Danilo Perez; Online Photo Story/Essay: Caylo Seals, Danilo Perez, Jake Crandall, Alexey Nosov, Alejandro Contreras; Photo Story/Essay: Caylo Seals; Sports Action Photo: Danilo Perez.

Third Place—Illustration: Karuna Namala; Informational Graphic: Renée Bartlett-Webber; Inside Page Layout: Cebelihle Hlatshwayo; Podcast/Audio News: Jenna Tibby.

Fourth Place—Feature Story (non-profile): Taylor Parise; Front Page Layout: The Corsair Staff; Photo Illustration: Akemi Rico; Sports Feature Photo: Caylo Seals.

Danilo Perez also won first place in the JACC news photo category for this image of a California Highway Patrol Special Operations Unit attempting to take down the barrier leading into a pro-Palestinian encampment on Dickson Court at UCLA on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Los Angeles, Calif. (Photo Credit: Danilo Perez | The Corsair)
Danilo Perez also won first place in the JACC news photo category for this image of a California Highway Patrol Special Operations Unit attempting to take down the barrier leading into a pro-Palestinian encampment on Dickson Court at UCLA on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Los Angeles, Calif. (Photo Credit: Danilo Perez | The Corsair)

Meritorious—Newspaper General Excellence: The Corsair Staff; Online General Excellence: The Corsair Staff; Enterprise News Story/Series: The Corsair Staff; Enterprise News Story/Series: Cebelihle Hlatshwayo, Renee Bartlett-Weber, Samaiya Kirby, Victor Chambers.

Honorable Mention—Environmental Portrait: Alexey Nosov; Sports Action Photo, Caylo Seals; Sports Feature Photo: Danilo Perez; Video Soft News Reporting: The Corsair Staff.

The Corsair advising team includes journalism instructor Sharyn Obsatz , photojournalism instructor Gerard Burkhart, and social media journalism instructor Samantha Nuñez. The Corsair staff produces a newspaper in the spring and fall semesters, currently available on issuu.com/corsair.website, and publishes news content online at thecorsaironline.com. Follow The Corsair on Instagram @corsairnews.

“As always, the Corsair staff continues to hold a highly professional approach to news and photo reportage,” Burkhart said. “I stand in awe at the things they accomplish.”

An image from Danilo Perez’s JACC first place winning photo story. A shirtless man dances to country music in the stands of Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif. on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2023. (Photo Credit: Danilo Perez | The Corsair)
An image from Danilo Perez’s JACC first place winning photo story. A shirtless man dances to country music in the stands of Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif. on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2023. (Photo Credit: Danilo Perez | The Corsair)

Santa Monica College’s journalism program offers career training in reporting and nonfiction storytelling across multiple platforms: print, photography, video, audio, social media, and digital media production. Students are prepared for roles including reporter, correspondent, editor, copywriter, audience engagement editor, social media content creator and broadcast producer. Students wanting to join the Corsair for the Spring 2025 semester can sign up for Journalism 16: Producing the Campus Newspaper; Journalism 22/Photo 14: Photography for Publication or Journalism 7/Media 25: Engaging Audiences for Journalism and Social Media. More information is available at smc.edu/journalism.

Santa Monica College is a California Community College accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC).

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