Orange County Register and Southern California News Group journalists were honored with 53 awards, including 18 for first place, at the Orange County Press Club’s Excellence in Journalism Gala on Wednesday at the Anaheim Hills Golf Course.
Graphic artist Jeff Goertzen, assistant business editor Pat Maio and projects and topics editor Andre Mouchard each took multiple first-place honors. OCR/SCNG journalists swept the categories for best news feature, best education story and best sports photo. And the OC local team won for best election coverage in the competition that honored work from 2024.
Reporter Nick Gerda from LAist was named journalist of the year, and Norberto Santana Jr., the publisher and editor-in-chief of Voice of OC, was given the Sky Dunlap Award for his distinguished career.
Below are all the Register/SCNG honorees, including an intern and freelancer who were honored for work they did for the organization. You can find the complete list of honorees here.
Best News Story
First: Scott Schwebke
Third: Hanna Kang
Best News Feature Story
First: Pat Maio
Second: Jeff Collins
Third: Scott Schwebke
Honorable mention: Chris Haire
Best Breaking News Story
Second: Tony Saavedra, Michael Slaten and Destiny Torres
Honorable mention: Annika Bahnsen, Michael Slaten and Jonathan Horwitz
Best Public Affairs Story
Third: Michael Slaten
Best Feature Story
Second: Jeff Collins
Third: Samantha Dunn
Best Public Health Story
Third: Michael Slaten
Best Political Story
Second: Hanna Kang
Third: Hanna Kang and Victoria Le
Best Business Story
First: Andre Mouchard
Second: Jeff Collins
Third: Pat Maio
Best Sports Story
First: Haley Sawyer
Second: Todd Harmonson
Best Arts/Culture Story
Third: Todd Harmonson
Best Environmental News Story
First: Pat Maio
Third: Erika Ritchie
Best Education Story
First: Andre Mouchard, Michael Slaten and Teri Sforza
Second: Erika Ritchie
Third: Mindy Schauer
Honorable mention: Kaitlyn Schallhorn
Best Food/Restaurant Story
Honorable mention: Jonathan Horwitz
Best Food/Restaurant Review
First: Brock Keeling
Third: Brock Keeling
Best Profile
First: Samantha Dunn
Second: Brock Keeling
Third: Jonathan Horwitz
Best Religion Story
First: Hanna Kang
Best Election Coverage
First: Orange County Register Staff
Honorable mention: Hanna Kang
Best Beat Reporting
First: Andre Mouchard
Second: Jeff Collins
Best Long-form Feature or Series
Second: Kaitlyn Schallhorn
David McQuay Award for Best Columnist
Second: Teri Sforza
Best Use of Data
First: Kaitlyn Schallhorn and Daniel Aitken
Best Audience Engagement/Use of Social Media
First: Dorothy Elder
Third: Carolyn Burt
Best Informative Graphic
First: Jeff Goertzen
Best Illustration
First: Jeff Goertzen
Best News Photo
First: Jeff Gritchen
Honorable mention: Paul Bersebach
Best Sports Photo
First: Keith Birmingham
Second: Keith Birmingham
Third: Paul Rodriguez
Fourth: Paul Rodriguez
Best Feature Photo
Second: Jeff Gritchen
Best Portrait
Third: Paul Bersebach
Best Photo Essay
First: Mindy Schauer