Citrus College Newspaper Rakes in Awards

After enduring an eight-hour bus ride north, the staff of the Citrus Clarion recently strutted its stuff among other like-minded students from throughout the state.

Each year junior college journalism programs are invited to participate in two conferences, one each for southern and northern California in the fall, and a statewide event in the fall. The conferences are put together by the Journalism Association of Community Colleges, an organization made up of volunteer students and faculty from junior college journalism and communications programs.

The conferences consist mostly of seminars and competitions where students and college papers can have their worked reporting against their peers. And this year at the Double Tree Hotel in Sacramento April 7 through 9, among about 45 campus and 550 represented, the staff of the Clarion performed among the state’s very best.

“Everybody’s newspaper is out on the table, and you get to check out everyone’s stuff, see what other people are doing,” recalls Clarion Editor-in-Chief Natalie Miranda. “I have to say, this JACC I learned so much compared with last semester.”

In the end, the Clarion and its staff brought about a dozen awards back to Glendora—too many for the newsroom to get an exact recount. Besides several staff members taking home accolades for ‘on the spot’ competitions—including in the categories of news writing, broadcast news, and opinion writing—the Clarion newspaper itself was recognized in the category of general excellence.

“It represents the exceptional work ethic of last year's Team Clarion,” said Clarion Faculty Advisor Meg O’Neil.  “It is public acknowledgment that the journalism students at Citrus College consistently do a good job serving their campus community.”

Beyond the new information that students may gain—this year’s conference heavily integrated digital media technology among its dozens of seminars—and ego-boosting awards they may receive, the conference’s importance seems as much social as professional. Not only is a trip to Sacramento a bonding experience for a close-knit staff, but it also represents a chance for young journalists to mingle and network with like-minded individuals.

“It’s really cool being in a group of people who all have the same interest as you,” explains Miranda. “You have that common ground, so it’s always fun to bond and get to know each other.”

However, the conference is also an opportunity for students to test the waters, practice journalism in a new, competitive environment, and perhaps gauge their real interest in pursuing it as a career. For cases such as with the Clarion’s Israel Mejia—a third-year Citrus student—it doesn’t always yield an affirmative result, but for a junior college student, even ruling out a path is an important process on the road to finding a true calling.

“I would love to be in the business, but it’s not my thing,” said Mejia, telling the story of an epiphany borne out of boredom while participating in the news feature writing competition. “I got to meet some people with the same story I have. They wanted to know if (journalism) was for them.”