Tehachapi News

Tehachapi News secures journalism award

The Tehachapi News earned a prestigious second-place award from the California Newspaper Publishers Association (CNPA) during a ceremony held in Los Angeles on July 15. The paper also received an honorable mention for the category of general excellence.

The CNPA sponsors the annual Better Newspapers Contest (BNC), which bestowed the award for a special issue publication circulated last June, titled A salute to the employees and programs at California Correctional Institution, Tehachapi.

“This (publication) really gave our staff a sense of appreciation, something that they don’t really get a lot of, for the hard work  they do,” said CCI Tehachapi’s Warden Joe Sullivan.

Sullivan credited the Tehachapi News with drawing positive attention to the rehabilitation efforts of the more than 2,000 state employees and well over 100 sub-contractors and volunteers who serve CCI’s nearly 6,000 inmates. 

Tehachapi News editor Carol Holmes expressed her gratitude to contributing writers and photographers Nick Smirnoff, Ian Hamilton and Julianna Crisali, Pat Gracey, Marilda Mel White and  Eric Jepson.

“I want to give a lot of credit to our layout department for making this publication look so great,” Holmes said.

Under the direction of Holmes, the Tehachapi News publishes approximately 12 special issue publications a year, including local seasonal visitor’s guides, special interests such as health and fitness and home improvement, and Mountain Festival programs, among others.

This award is the fourth CNPA award received by the Tehachapi News since 2002. The CNPA is a nonprofit trade association representing the daily and weekly newspapers of California.

The BNC is an annual newsroom competition the purpose of recognizing the most outstanding journalistic achievements published by daily and weekly California newspapers in one calendar year. Dailies and weeklies compete separately among themselves based on their circulation.