The University Times has been the official newspaper for California State University, Los Angeles since 1948. It’s the most popular news organization on campus with tens of thousands of audience members online and on social media platforms.
The University Times and its community news section, UT Community News, have collectively won more than 55 awards and honors the past five years, including national ones for multimedia and audience engagement work. They compete for such awards with bigger programs and prestigious schools, often punching above their weight. Some of the awards, by year, are listed at the end of this page.
University Times Community News students report on under-covered areas on the Eastside and South LA where they live, often finding stories others don’t – stories that make an impact. Examples include:
- A 2020 UT Community News story revealed that over 90% of 360 total permits approved for new units in Alhambra over a six-year period were for “above moderate” income levels. Later that year, the city approved more affordable housing.
- Another UT Community News story – about allegations that racism fueled the creation of a roadblock dividing El Sereno and Pasadena – was shared on a prominent local Facebook group, and about 10 days later, the city removed a divisive sign at the location.
- Stories covering key public issues that are regularly cross-published in local news outlets such as the Latinx Landmarks vertical video series, which ran both on the Los Angeles’ Times De Los vertical as well as CALÓ News. More than one dozen voter guide stories in recent years ran in Boyle Heights Beat, CALÓ News and PBS SoCal.
- An investigation produced with UT Community News students was credited in part for a law closing a local campaign finance loophole. Another won a professional journalism award for education reporting and a third won a national social impact award for covering the depth and breadth of the impact on residents of alleged negligence by a local landlord. A fourth one was recently published in LA Public Press, then cross-published in Boyle Heights Beat.
2023 Los Angeles Press Club
● UT Community News – Finalist, Best News Writing, Off-Campus Issues, by Marcos Franco
● UT Community News – Finalist, Best Personality Profile Off-Campus, by Alyssah Hall
●UT – Finalist, Best Personality Profile On Campus, by Mia Alva
●GER – Finalist, Best Radio or Podcast Reporting, by Erik Adams
March 2023 – California College Media Awards
●UT – First place, Best Social Justice Coverage:○“What college life is like for those with ADHD” by Erik Adams
○”Brown and gay in L.A.” by Victoria Ivie
○”Study finds Black students feel ‘isolated'” by Alyssah Hall & Victoria Ivie
○“Above average: What college life is like for those in their 30s” by ErikAdams
○”Slow to fix accessibility issues?” by Victoria Ivie
●UT – First place, Best Non-News Story – South Village dining employees report‘filthy’ and ‘hostile’ work environment by Victoria Ivie
●UT – First place, Best Newspaper Inside Page/Spread Design – “It grows like this”design by Fatima Rosales with ideas/content from Alyssah Hall
●UT – Second place, General Innovation – “News Break” social media videos like thisand this – Priscilla Caballero, Braylin Collins, Erick Cabrera, Cornell Chuaseco &Will Baker
●UT – Second place, Best Headline Portfolio – Erik Adams○“Above Average: What college life is like for those in their 30s and beyond”
○“No better time to be a nerd: Eagle-Con makes sci-fi a reality”
○”6 albums to ‘fall’ for this season”
●UT – Third place, Best Non-News Video – “News Break” video – Priscilla Caballero,Braylin Collins, Erick Cabrera, Cornell Chuaseco & Will Baker
●UT – Third place, Best Arts & Entertainment Story – Indigenous People’s Day drawsover 50” by Anne To
●UT – Third place, Best Feature Photo – “Indigenous People’s Day draws over 50” -dancer photo by Xavier Zamora
●UT – Third place, Best Social Media Reporting – “People not wearing masks indoorssparks conversation” by Mia Alva
Fall 2022 National College Media Association Pinnacle Awards
●UT – Second Place, Best Audience Engagement for its social media video series,“News Break,” crowd-sourced stories and polls, Tik Tok stories andillustrations/animations.
●UT Community News – First Place, Best Feature Story, by Stephanie Sical
●GER – Honorable Mention, Best Sports Audio Story by Erik Adams
June 2022 Los Angeles Press Club Awards
●GETV – First Place, Best TV reporting, Podcast or Stream, “Eastsiders get help fromYMCA during the pandemic” by Jorge Garcia and Kilmer Salinas
●UT Community News – Second place, Best Off-Campus Feature Writing, “South LAexplosion, months later” by Xennia Hamilton
18
●UT Community News – Second place, Best Off-Campus Profile Writing, “Accidentthat almost ended his life gave him a new one” by Stephanie Presz
●UT & UT Community News, Third place, Best College News Website
●GER – Finalist, Best Radio or Podcast Reporting, “Hear Me: Stories of the RealPeople of SoCal” by Fall 2021 JOUR 3500 Race, Class & Gender in AmericanJournalism class
March 2022 – California College Media Association Awards
●UT, First place – Online Illustration by Camille Jessie
●UT, First place – Online Advertisement by Lurdes Villalpando
●UT, Second place – Interactive Graphic by Joshua Mejia
●UT Community News, Second place – Magazine Photo Series, by Jathniel Coronado
●UT, Second place – Arts & Entertainment Story by Rosio Flores
●UT, Third place – General Innovation, by UT digital and social media reporters &editors
●UT’s La Nota Dorada, Third place – Best Multimedia Package by Jorge Garcia
Sept. 2021 – College Media Association’s national Pinnacle Awards
●UT – First place, Best Audience Engagement, including its social media videos andinteractive features, by the newspaper’s social media and digital editors and reporters.
Aug. 2021 – Los Angeles Press Club’s annual awards
●UT – First place, Best College News website
●UT – Second place, Best On-campus Profile Writing for “Homeless Student Fights toStay at Cal State LA” by Joshua Letona
●UT – Second place, Best News Photo, “Peaceful protest at Cal State LA” by JoshuaMejia
●UT Community News – First place, Best Off-Campus Profile Story, “Local comedianembraces disability” By Amaraini Hernandez and Catherine Valdez
●UT Community News – Second place, Best Off-Campus News Writing,“South Gateresidents question water quality” by Tahiti Salinas
●UT & GER – Finalist, Best Podcast Reporting for “Time to Talk: FreelancePhotographers Cover Protests Amid Pandemic and Police Pushback” by UT & editorleaders
March 2020 – California College Media Association
●UT – First place, best infographic by Joshua Letona and Meghan Bravo
●UT – First place, best column by Anthony Karambelas
●UT – Second place, best illustration by Miles Gaius
●UT Community News – Third place, best feature story by Becky Nava
October 2020 – Associated Collegiate Press19
●First Place, Best Comic Strip, by Lauren Dahncke
●Honorable Mention, Best Climate Change Story, by Richard Tzul
●Honorable Mention, Best Editorial Cartoon, by Crystal Nigo-Bravo
●UT Community News, Honorable Mention, Best Use of Social Media for coveringfive presidential candidates’ visit to Cal State LA by Amaraini Hernandez, RichardTzul and Catherine Valdez
March 2019 – California College Media Association
●UT Community News – Second place, Social Media Storytelling for an election guideproduced as a Twitter Moment by Patel Liss’ Fall 2018 JOUR 3910 University Timesclass
●UT Community News – Honorable mention, Best News Video this story aboutgentrification in El Sereno by Daniel Lindley