CalMatters has carved out a leadership role as a trusted brand and “go-to” hub for in-depth news and information on statewide issues.
Our work has led to changes in policy, new legislation and investigations and discussions at the Capitol, in political groups and beyond — and because of our collaborative approach, people across the state are more engaged in solving the problems California is tackling.
Inside CalMatters
Events
Awards
We’re proud that our team and our work have been recognized and honored with many local, state, and national awards.
California Journalism Awards
CALIFORNIA NEWS PUBLISHERS
First Place, General Excellence
CalMatters Staff
CalMatters placed first among the largest California news sites
Judges: “CalMatters stood out for its relentless approach to telling engaging stories from multiple perspectives.”
First Place, Newsom Recall Election Coverage
Laurel Rosenhall, Sameea Kamal, Emily Hoeven, Matthew Reagan
Judges: “Great collection of stories that take a fresh look at common element of an election, voting blocs.”
California Recall Election 2021
First Place, Coverage of Youth and Education
Jocelyn Wiener, Erica Yee, Anne Wernikoff
Judges: “Great use of interactive graphics/maps. Also personalized voices helped bring the struggle home.”
How California kids experienced COVID-19 inequality
First Place, Enterprise News Story
Sameea Kamal
Both in our size category and in the overall “open” category.
Judges: “An excellent series explaining the fine details and overall plan for state redistricting. Clear writing as well as fine graphics make the changes in districts easy to understand.”
California redistricting 101: What you need to know
First Place, Investigative Reporting
Robert Lewis and Jeremia Kimelman
Judges: “The research plus the individual perspectives plus the presentation/organization made for a comprehensive and moving narrative that delved deeply with tangible takeaways.”
First Place, Land Use Reporting
Manuela Tobias
Judges: “This is “the” topic of the day in California, and the CalMatters team showed out here. Stellar in-depth but understandable reporting on a complex and dense topic.”
Why is it so difficult to get housing bills through the California Legislature?
Second Place, Public Service
CalMatters Staff
Judges: “Excellent use of graphics, photos, videos and other multimedia. The recall voter guide component of this project is really eye-catching and user-friendly. I appreciate the straightforward presentation of the ‘what he has and hasn’t done’ coverage. That really spells it out for readers and makes it clear what’s been accomplished and what is still lacking. The illustrated guide to the Newsom recall was one of my favorite parts of this entry: fun, unique and easy to follow while not being patronizing. And while all of this is stand-out public service journalism already, the ‘how to vote in the recall election’ guide really drives that point home. Fantastic work.”
Newsom Recall Voter Guide (Stories 1, 2, 3 and 4)
Second Place, Newsom Recall Election Coverage
Ben Christopher
Judges: “Great idea to take what could’ve been a simple story and instead do in-depth reporting about the overall practice of polling and the specific impact the SurveyUSA poll had. Excellent writing, diverse sourcing and use of graphics.”
Polling error: How one survey changed the Newsom recall campaign
Third Place, Youth and Education Coverage
Ricardo Cano and Elizabeth Aguilera
Judges: “Good use of characters in the story.”
Special-needs children still seek help after year adrift
Third Place, Writing
Robert Lewis
Judges: “Exhaustive research and a heartbreaking story.”
Outgunned: The story of a woman, an abuser and California’s failing gun control
Second Place, In-Depth Reporting
Rachel Becker, Julie Cart, Jeremia Kimelman
California’s Drought Crisis (Stories 1, 2 and 3)
Fourth Place, Enterprise News
Byrhonda Lyons and Laurel Rosenhall
Judges: “Strong on writing, research and organization; hits the key point of a lack of training at the core of the problem today and likely in the future without action. Mixes the human toll with the data to show personal impact.”
Is California’s new police deadly force law making a difference?
Fourth Place, Feature Story
Ana Ibarra
Judges: “Until I read this story, I had no idea about this topic. Good writing and good visuals.”
COVID lungs: Transplants are last resort for many California patients
Fourth Place, Infographics
John Osborn D’Agostino
Judges: “This interactive put me in the shoes of a legislator. It’s hard work! Very clean presentation. The titles and descriptions for the options were fun to read and kept me engaged. Also valued seeing how my answers compared to other users on the results page.”
Spend the surplus: This game puts you in charge of California’s budget
Fifth Place, Breaking News
Emily Hoeven
Judges: “As its headline makes explicit, the article makes clear California’s standing in the world’s efforts to combat climate change. Its writing deftly highlights the disparity between what Gov. Newsom has been saying and others with different opinions and the relevant knowledge like Assembly Speaker Rendon. Its publication amid the UN conference on climate change in Scotland also underscores the urgency of the matter.”
Assembly leader: California isn’t leading on climate
Silver Gavel Award
AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
Finalist
Robert Lewis
Finalist (Two of the five finalists in this national competition were by Robert.)
Outgunned
Waiting for Justice
State politics and policy awards
SACRAMENTO PRESS CLUB
First Place: Housing and Homelessness Coverage
Manuela Tobias
For a year’s worth of reporting on housing issues
Finalist: Impact in Journalism
Jocelyn Wiener
California’s Broken System of Nursing Home Oversight
Finalist: Reporting on Racial Justice
Byrhonda Lyons
In Absentia: No Latino Superior Court judges in these majority-Latino California counties
Excellence in Health Care Journalism
ASSOCIATION OF HEALTHCARE JOURNALISTS
Second Place
Barbara Feder Ostrov
From maggots to sex abuse, nursing homes sue California to overturn citations, fines
Online Journalism Awards
ONLINE NEWS ASSOCIATION
Finalist, General Excellence in Online Journalism, Small Newsrooms
CalMatters was one of four finalists for ONA’s top prize for online journalism.
The OJAs are the only comprehensive prizes honoring excellence in digital journalism.
General Excellence Award
Awards for Reporting on the Environment
SOCIETY OF ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISTS
First Place, Outstanding Beat Reporting
Rachel Becker
Judges: “Rachel’s “in-depth, yet easy-to-digest reporting on California’s contaminated air and drinking water resources. Her stories on water, in particular, revealed that a number of unaware communities might be consuming water tainted by industrial chemicals — some left in the aftermath of the state’s many wildfires. Her writing was chock full of helpful statistics and underpinned by science in a way that informed but did not overwhelm.”
- Oil and Babies Don’t Mix: Wells Linked to Low Birthweight
- A Collision of Crises; Central Valley Suffers Searing Heat, Smoke and Virus Hot Spots
- Unsafe To Drink: Wildfires Threaten Rural Towns With Tainted Water
- Well Water Throughout California Contaminated With ‘Forever Chemicals’
- Legacy of a Clean-Air Czar: Clearer Skies, Bold Alliances and Bitter Controversy
Excellence in Journalism Awards
SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS NORCAL CHAPTER
Best Scoop
Laurel Rosenhall
Exclusive: California wires mask dealer half a billion dollars, then claws it back
Explanatory Journalism
Jackie Botts, Lo Bénichou and Kate Cimini
Close Quarters: California’s overcrowded homes fuel spread of coronavirus among workers
National Headliner Awards
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB
Online Beat Coverage
Laurel Rosenhall
Judges: “Laurel Rosenhall’s coverage of the California statehouse should be required reading for all statehouse reporters in the country. Her beat coverage this year offered several sure-to-outrage-citizens stories, including how politicians are allowed to set up nonprofits to accept unlimited donations.”
Sigma Awards
Finalists, World’s best data journalism
Jackie Botts, Lo Bénichou and Kate Cimini
Judges: “One of the first stories to link overcrowded housing to the spread of coronavirus.”
Close Quarters
State politics and policy awards
SACRAMENTO PRESS CLUB
Journalist of the Year
Laurel Rosenhall
Laurel also won first place for Beat Reporting, and the Press Club named a scholarship in her honor.
Judges: “Laurel Rosenhall uses tenacious reporting and public records to hold politicians and other powerful people accountable for their decisions and actions.”
Finalist, Impact in Journalism
Jackie Botts, Kate Cimini, Laurence Du Sault and Manuela Tobias
Finalist, Capitol Enterprise
Lauren Hepler and Stephen Council
How Bank of America Helped Fuel California’s Unemployment Meltdown
Finalist, Environmental Reporting
Rachel Becker
Finalist, Best Multimedia Package
CalMatters Staff
California Election Guide, November 2020
Greater Bay Area Journalism Awards
SAN FRANCISCO PRESS CLUB
First Place, Photo
Anne Wernikoff
First Place, General News
Jocelyn Wiener
How BofA Fueled California’s Unemployment Meltdown
First place, Investigative
Lauren Hepler and Stephen Council
How BofA Fueled California’s Unemployment Meltdown
First place, Environmental
Rachel Becker and Rebecca Sohn
Second Place, Columns
Ben Christopher
Post-It 2020 Election Coverage
California Journalism Awards
CALIFORNIA NEWS PUBLISHERS
First Place, Public Service
CalMatters Staff
First Place, Pandemic Coverage
CalMatters Staff
Year of Loss series profiling families of COVID victims.
First Place, Data Journalism
Ben Christopher
2020 election data analysis
First Place, Writing
Jocelyn Wiener
Mental health tsunami looms: Can California prevent a surge in suicides?
First Place, Features
Nigel Duara
Judges: “Duara captures the uncertainty from inside, nailing the voices of the frustrated owners frantically looking for answers [and] the servers struggling to make the rent and feed their own families.“
12 Hours in an L.A. restaurant
First Place, Enterprise
Laurel Rosenhall
Judges: “This is true enterprise springing from a reporter who noticed patterns that seemed not to make sense. The conflict of interest was staggering.”
NAACP president aids corporate prop campaigns
Second Place, In-Depth Reporting
Jackie Botts, Lo Bénichou, Kate Cimini and Marla Cone
Judges: “This was an extremely strong entry that could win first place in many years.”
Close Quarters
Second Place, News Photo
Anne Wernikoff
Second Place, Informational Graphic
John Osborn D’Agostino and Lo Bénichou
Judges: “ … daily virus tracker loads instantaneously and is packed with useful information.“
Coronavirus Hospitalization Tracker
Second Place, Land-Use Reporting
Julie Cart
Third Place, Feature Story
Elizabeth Aguilera
Judges: “… important and under-told story about the pandemic’s stunting effect on migrant students’ education.”
For some California teens, school closures led to work in the fields
Fourth Place, In-Depth Reporting
Rachel Becker and Rebecca Sohn
Judges: “Excellent examination of contaminated wells that provide drinking water … [showing] how the low rate of well testing left many Californians with no idea what the true extent of contamination is.”
California’s Toxic Legacy of “Forever Chemicals
Fifth Place, Enterprise News Story or Series
Jocelyn Wiener
Judges: “This is journalism with impact, with lawmakers and advocates citing this story before they passed a law to expand mental health parity.“
Why Californians with mental illness are dropping private insurance
Fifth Place, Investigative Reporting
Laurel Rosenhall
Judges: “Sweet Charity made an immediate impact. California’s political ethics commission is now investigating this growing trend. Nice work.
Sweet Charity
Poverty and Inequality Awards
NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION
Poverty and Inequality Reporting
Nigel Duara, Orlando Mayorquin, Jackie Botts, Laurence Du Sault and Kate Cimini
Judges: “… highlighted not only the struggles but also the resourcefulness of renters throughout the Golden State. … “The human stories take the reader beyond the policy debates.”
Staying Sheltered
Best of the West
Investigative Journalism, Second Place
Jackie Botts and Kate Cimini
Judges: “Their work changed policies that certainly saved some lives and it was a real work of public service journalism.“
COVID rips through motel rooms of guest workers who pick nation’s produce
Price Child Health and Welfare Journalism Awards
UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF LAW CHILDREN’S ADVOCACY INSTITUTE
Price Child Health and Welfare Journalism Award
Elizabeth Aguilera
Pandemic coverage including:
- For some teens, school closures led to work in the fields
- Over a million students still lack access to remote learning
- Home is a perilous place for some during pandemic
- Coronavirus stretches special education system to the brink
National Headliner Awards
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB
National Headliner Award
Jocelyn Wiener
Local Public Radio News Awards
PUBLIC MEDIA JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION
Second Place, Podcasts
Laurel Rosenhall
Awards for Reporting on the Environment
SOCIETY OF ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISTS
First Honorable Mention
Julie Cart
Judges: “In Cart’s clear, zingy style, she rips into the state’s climate goal playbook and lets readers know what’s working and what hasn’t yet worked.”
Road to Zero
Edward R. Murrow Award
CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING
California Dream collaboration among KQED, KPCC, KPBS, CapRadio and CalMatters
Graying California
Best of the West
First Place, Project Reporting
Julie Cart, Judy Lin and Byrhonda Lyons
Judges: “May others learn from this supreme example of sharp exposition.“
California’s Worsening Wildfires, Explained
Capitol Weekly
Top 100
Laurel Rosenhall
Judges: “Sacramento has no shortage of great reporters, but Laurel Rosenhall of CalMatters is in a class by herself.”
Excellence in Journalism Awards
SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS NORCAL CHAPTER
Excellence in Journalism Award, Explanatory Journalism
Matt Levin, Ben Christopher and John Osborn D’Agostino
Californians: Here’s why your housing costs are so high
California Journalism Awards
CALIFORNIA NEWS PUBLISHERS
First Place, General Excellence
CalMatters Staff
Judges: “… easy navigation, good art, superbly written stories and even interactivity.“
First Place, In-Depth Reporting, Second Place, Enterprise News, Third Place, Investigative Reporting
Jocelyn Wiener
Judges: “It is clear that much time was devoted to in-depth research; great reporting with diverse sources that add the human element to the issue.”
Breakdown: California’s Mental Health System, Explained
First Place, Investigative Reporting, Second Place, Public Service Journalism, Third Place, Writing
Ricardo Cano, Mohamed Al Elew and John Osborn D’Agostino
Judges: “This series armed lawmakers to make informed decisions. … [It] shows how journalists can take numbers and turn them into something useful, not only for the general public but also for the government.”
Disaster Days
First Place, Land-Use Reporting
Elizabeth Castillo and Matt Levin
Judges: “Great enterprise reporting of a huge conflict-of-interest issue that could affect all Californians.”
Lawmakers and landlords: More than a quarter of California legislators are both
Second Place, Coverage of Local Government
Ben Christopher
Judges: “Such an important topic, and one that hasn’t received enough attention.”
Will state crack down on predatory lending?
Second Place, Story Presentation
Julie Cart and Judy Lin
Judges: “Many strong layouts. The tone of the subheads … made the dry subject more engaging.”
California’s on Fire, unplugged and out of easy answers. So why don’t we…
Third Place, Coverage of Youth and Education
Ricardo Cano
How far will California schools go on charter schools?
Third Place, Home Page Layout & Design
CalMatters Staff
Judges: “The site is attractive and simple, without a lot of invasive ads and pop-ups adding clutter. Headlines are strong and compelling.”
Fourth Place, Feature Photo
Anne Wernikoff
Judges: “The photos helped tell the story of this doctor and what he means to the community.”
Paging more doctors: California’s worsening physician shortage
In-Depth Reporting
Ben Christopher
Judges: “Good lead, excellent news value with good infographics, subtopics and video. Shows a considerable degree of research and investigation.”
How California got tough on guns
Video Journalism
Byrhonda Lyons
Awards for Reporting on the Environment
SOCIETY OF ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISTS
Third Place, Outstanding Beat Reporting
Julie Cart
Judges: “This series of reports brings the topic of climate change down to Earth, as it offers multimedia coverage of related issues such as cap-and-trade, adaptation of the electrical grid and the real challenges of abandoning fossil fuels.”
Online Journalism Awards
ONLINE NEWS ASSOCIATION
Finalist, Visual Digital Storytelling
John Osborn D’Agostino
Excellence in Journalism Awards
SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS NORCAL CHAPTER
Winner, Data Visualization
John Osborn D’Agostino
Features Journalism
Dan Morain
A Capitol Crime: How a 16-year-old murder reached California’s highest offices
Ongoing Coverage
Felicia Mello
Science, Environment and Health Reporting
Jocelyn Wiener
National Headliner Awards
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB
National Headliner Award
CalMatters Staff
Californians: Everything you need to know before you vote
California Journalism Awards
CALIFORNIA NEWS PUBLISHERS
First Place, Public Service Journalism
Ben Christopher, Byrhonda Lyons and John Osborn D’Agostino
Judges: “An absolute wonderful example of public service.”
CalMatters 2018 Election Guide
First Place, Homepage Design
John Osborn D’Agostino, David Lesher and Marcia Parker
Judges: “Solid, effective layout, design and headline use. Good variety of photos and colors. It’s the best for both desktop and mobile versions.”
First Place, Investigative Reporting and First Place, Coverage of Youth and Education
Felicia Mello, Shawn Hubler and Vicki Haddock
Judges: “The writer did a great job pushing ahead with this story despite state regulators refusing to cooperate.”
California’s for-profit college watchdog fails to police
First Place, Coverage of Local Government
Laurel Rosenhall, Shawn Hubler and Vicki Haddock
Judges: “This is a powerful piece of journalism that vitally serves the public interest in two ways: explaining Kinney’s cozy relationship to California’s new governor and how relatively unknown people exert great influence behind the scenes.”
A Capitol fixer is poised to ascend with Gavin Newsom—and legal weed
First Place, Feature Story
Laurel Rosenhall, Shawn Hubler and Vicki Haddock
Judges: “Easy to read (clear) writing. Well organized. Huge relevance (a major story with focus on key element).”
No legislator has confronted the effects of wildfire like this forensic dentist
First Place, Enterprise
David Gorn
Judges: “Great balance of stories about people and data.”
Stories on wellness
First Place, Video Journalism
Byrhonda Lyons and Julie Cart
Judges: “Explaining California’s war on climate change in fewer than five minutes is no easy task. But this video does so in an engaging, effective way.”
CalMatters explains California’s war on climate change
First Place, Land-Use Reporting
Matt Levin and Vicki Haddock
Judges: “The stories gave context to complex issues and used a variety of digital layers to connect readers with the information.”
2018 Housing/Zoning Coverage
Second Place, General Excellence
CalMatters Staff
Judges: “Rarely does a non-profit, community funded news website rise to the level of what CalMatters offers. … You get the sensation that you are visiting a large news organization.”
Second Place, Feature Writing
Matt Levin
Judges: “A story that needs to be told that can help lead to answers of a serious problem.”
California housing costs create harsh reality for refugees
Second Place, Breaking News
Dan Morain, Laurel Rosenhall, Ben Christopher and CalMatters Staff
Judges: “Impressive wall-to-wall coverage of the statewide general election (that) reflected well-thought-out planning and the team’s deep knowledge of the candidates and the issues.”
2018 Election Night Coverage
Second Place, Investigative Reporting and Second Place, Local Government
Ricardo Cano, Shawn Hubler and Vicki Haddock
Judges: “The story is reader- friendly because it isn’t drowning in numbers, and Cano effectively mixes in interviews with officials trying to get facilities built.
California’s School Bonds: the Rich Get Richer and the Poor, not so Much
Third Place, Writing
Felicia Mello
Staff: “A great lead and a well-written and heartbreaking story about a talented young man’s struggle to go to college.”
California Campuses Confront a Growing Crisis: Homeless Students
Third Place, In-Depth Reporting, Third Place, Local Government and Fifth Place, Youth & Education
Jessica Calefati, Vicki Haddock and David Lesher
Judges: “Great reader service of identifying how ballooning teacher pensions are going to spell financial disaster for schools down the road.”
Teacher Pension Debt Swamps School Budgets
Third Place, Enterprise News
Matt Levin, John Osborn D’Agostino, Adriene Hill and Vicki Haddock
Judges: “Very nice graphics. Lots of data. Solid reporting.”
Digging into the data: California Dream
Fourth Place, In-Depth Reporting
Julie Cart and Linda Rogers
Judges: “Top-notch series that shows climate-change regulations are shortchanging taxpayers.”
Climate Change coverage
Fourth Place, Writing
Ben Christopher and Vicki Haddock
Judges: “It’s hard to stand out when writing a profile about Gavin Newsom since there are so many written already. But this well-written one did provide a lot of unusual quotes and facts that gave a bigger more nuanced picture of California’s governor.”
Gavin Newsom Profile
Fourth Place, Feature Story
Laurel Rosenhall, Shawn Hubler and Vicki Haddock
Colusa County welcomes Jerry Brown
Fourth Place, Video Journalism
Byrhonda Lyons, Laurel Rosenhall and Vicki Haddock
Judges: “Alternating between chilling shooting video, and the highlighting of legal documents, this video tackles a crucial topic.”
Online Journalism Awards
ONLINE NEWS ASSOCIATION
First Place, Feature
Matt Levin, Ben Christopher and John Osborn D’Agostino
Californians: Here’s Why Your Housing Costs Are So High
EPPY Awards
EDITOR & PUBLISHER
Best Feature Story
Matt Levin and Ben Christopher
Californians: Here’s Why Your Housing Costs Are So High
Best Innovation Project
CalMatters Staff
California Journalism Awards
CALIFORNIA NEWS PUBLISHERS
First Place
For a collaboration with the Los Angeles Times and Capital Public Radio
Jack Bates Award
CALIFORNIA PRESS ASSOCIATION
Marcia Parker
Honors distinguished service to the California press through effective leadership in addressing newspaper challenges and assisting journalism education.
Most Influential Latina Journalists
CALIFORNIA LATINO JOURNALISTS NEWS MEDIA ASSOCIATION
15 Most Influential Latina Journalists of the Year
Elizabeth Aguilera
Special Projects
College Journalism Network
A collaboration with statewide student journalists to broaden and deepen higher education coverage while mentoring a diverse new generation of journalists. Support comes from the College Futures Foundation. Send questions to felicia@calmatters.org.
California Divide
A statewide media collaboration to raise awareness and engagement about poverty and income inequality through in-depth, local storytelling and community outreach. The project is based at CalMatters in Sacramento with a team of reporters deployed throughout California.
California Legislator Tracker
Californians elect 120 legislators to make important decisions. Our tracker gives residents their representatives’ background, profile and policy priorities based on voting records analyzed by software written by political scientists at UCLA, USC and the University of Georgia and Rice.
California Drought Tracker
An in-depth look into the state’s drought as we experience the second driest year on record. We investigate what’s improved, what’s worsened since the last drought, the current statewide situation and what’s impacting California’s people and places as a result.
California Dream Project
For two years we partnered with Capital Public Radio, KPBS, KPCC and KQED to tell stories of the new California dream: issues of economic opportunity, quality-of-life and the future of success. Support came from The James Irvine Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Votebeat
In 2020 CalMatters participated in a collaborative nonpartisan reporting project covering local election integrity and voting access across eight states. We hosted the collaboration along with the Fresno Bee, the Long Beach Post and the UC Berkeley Investigative Reporting Program.