El Vaquero received three awards – honorable mention for news photo, second place for broadsheet design and general excellence for web design – at the Journalism Association of Community Colleges statewide convention hosted in Sacramento April 4 through 6.
Competing against 51 other schools from all over California, El Vaquero staff members along with other students met at the Double Tree Hotel in Sacramento for a weekend of competitions and workshops.
This year’s competitions bused students to landmarks like Old Sacramento, Downtown Sacramento and the State Capitol for photo-ops and story ideas. The competitions in both news and editorial included events in news features – where staff writer Cyndi Kline attempted to capture the essence of the historical Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento – news writing, editorial and critical review.
The convention not only provided students with a chance to visit the landmarks of Sacramento, but even staged a pro-Palestinian protest concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The protest, which took place in Downtown Sacramento, gave student photographers like photo editor Ani Asatryan, a chance at provocative photos as well as a taste of journalism under pressure.
The weekend not only offered competitive contests, but also gave participants a chance to attend lectures and workshops hosted by media professionals on layout and design, as well as a variety of other topics.
“I always come away with new ideas every time I go to JACC conventions,” said El Vaquero editor-in-chief Jennifer Bernardo. “It’s a good learning experience. I’ve always been proud of our staff. The awards are just added bonuses.”
The Friday and Saturday sessions of the convention mostly consisted of competitions all day, with nightly dinner banquets giving students a chance to relax and meet students like from other schools.
“The El Vaquero staff who attended the JACC conference should be very proud of their accomplishments,” said faculty adviser Michael Moreau. “They were competing in contests with students from schools that are represented year after year and are well-versed in the format of the competitions. Glendale doesn’t have a tradition of competing, yet we won three awards.”
This is the second JACC competition the El Vaquero staff has entered. The last competition, hosted by Cal State Fullerton, also proved successful as the staff brought home first place for broadsheet design, fourth place for an info-graphic and honorable for a designed advertisement.