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Hey wow! Our staff got some well-deserved awards from @SPJ_NorCal:
Our staff was recognized for Data Visualization across three major stories.
. @LeoMCastaneda reported this story with help from @MarisaKendall and graphics assists from @JeffDurham, Paiching Wei, @kavyaSukumar and help from many others. https://extras.mercurynews.com/whoowns/
. @juliasulek and @KaitlynLandgraf, working again with Jeff, Pai and many others, looked at how rising rents and mortgages fell most heavily on some of the Bay Area's poorest communities: https://extras.mercurynews.com/pricewepay/part2/
. @HattieRowan created this vital Coronavirus Tracker last year and has been updating it daily; the data she manages there has been tremendously valuable to residents and our own journalists. https://extras.mercurynews.com/coronavirus-tracker/
. @daviddebolt and @laurencedsault worked with @robertianlewis, @KateyRusch and others at @UCBerkeleyIRP on this piece, which was recognized for Investigative Reporting: https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/28/this-central-valley-police-chief-forced-an-officer-to-remodel-his-home-now-hes-californias-latest-criminal-cop/
(This story, detailing some of the official response to the California's Criminal Cops series, was also part of the Investigative Reporting submission) https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/06/15/attorney-general-california-could-join-45-other-states-to-strip-problem-officers-of-badges/
This recent article tells the story behind the incredible photo @daisugano took during last year's protests in San Jose. The picture was recognized for Breaking News photography by an individual: https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/12/27/this-powerful-photo-of-her-kneeling-before-san-jose-riot-police-went-viral-now-we-know-her-story/
( @daisugano was also recognized in the Portfolio category for his body of work, much of which you can see here: https://www.mercurynews.com/author/dai-sugano/)
In the Photo Essay category, Dai was named along with @NhatVMeyer and @RandyVMedia for their team work documenting the protests across the Bay Area: https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/05/29/photos-oakland-san-jose-protesters-clash-with-police-in-demonstrations-over-george-floyd-killing/
The lead image on this article, of a grandmother holding her granddaughter after weeks on a ventilator as she struggled with COVID-19 also nabbed @RandyVMedia an award for an individual photo: https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/05/10/surviving-coronavirus-after-5-weeks-on-a-ventilator-san-jose-mother-comes-home-to-the-most-unbearable-news/
The Bay Area News Group was only one part of the California Reporting Project, a coalition of some 40 news organizations that worked to report on the misconduct and use of force among the state's police departments: https://www.kqed.org/policerecords
. @RandyVMedia was also recognized for this video feature about that grandmother, Claudia Meza:
Many, many, many more people who are not named here were part of this award-winning work, and they create a lot of other outstanding journalism that you're not seeing here. My colleagues are the best! And they are driven by a true passion for what they do! Support them!
There were also plenty of winners at other news organizations, and they are all very deserving as well! See the full list and links to their work here: https://spjnorcal.org/2021/02/03/spj-norcal-honors-2020-excellence-in-journalism-award-winners/
