Best two-year news website and newsmagazine in country awarded to el Don

At the largest media conference of the year, Santa Ana College journalism students received 27 awards ranging from the highest staff honors to individual awards celebrating reporting across various platforms. Reporters at el Don were also one of only three community colleges in the nation nominated for a Multiplatform Pacemaker Award, which is considered the Pulitzer Prize of modern collegiate journalism.

The Associated Collegiate Press’ Pacemaker Awards and the College Media Advisers Pinnacle Awards were presented at MediaFest25 held at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington D.C, which ran from Oct. 15-18.

The 2024-2025 el Don staff competed against hundreds of other collegiate journalism programs, receiving 21 Pinnacles awards, which included three first place awards, eight second place awards, five third place awards and five honorable mentions in a pool of thousands of entries from across the country.

The current staff also received Best of Show awards for their most recent newsmagazine and also their website, showing off the dedication that el Don students have been putting in this semester.

“What makes this year’s recognitions extra meaningful is that students are being honored for doing journalism in new ways during a historic time,” said faculty co-adviser Associate Professor Sarah Bennett. “The range of categories where our students are winning—from traditional reporting to vertical video, from photography to podcasts to print—shows they understand that modern news media isn’t about choosing one platform. It’s about telling the right story in the right format for their audience.”

Editors Ash Mojica and Geovanni Esparza won 1st place for General Newsletter, with el Don’s newsletter that started just this past school year, while former staff members Talan Garcia and Ryla Manalang won 1st place for Infographic with their 2024 Local Voter Guide that provided Santa Ana residents with crucial information on different projects and the people running for office.

The staff received 1st place for Media Website of the Year, which took into account all of el Don’s submitted work, along with four 2nd place awards for Special Section, Vertical Short Video, Editorial and News Multimedia Package.

“Going to the conference this year was an invaluable experience, especially being able to meet and learn from so many different professionals and advisors. Thank you to the Santa Ana College Foundation for funding our travel to the conference,” said el Don editor-in-chief Geovanni Esparza.

Go here for a full list of all awards.