Fullerton College Journalism Students Take Home 12 First-Place Awards
FULLERTON, CALIF. — Student journalists from Fullerton College took home 12 first-place awards and dozens of additional accolades in national and statewide competitions for the 2024-25 academic year. This year stood out for the awards in multimedia production and design that Hornet Media journalists won in national competitions against four-year universities.
The biggest award of the night was presented by the Associated Collegiate Press to The Hornet’s Natalia Fierro-Gomez, Sara Leon, Jake Rhodes and Pedro Saravia. Beating out schools like UPenn, University of Texas and New York University, the team took first place in Multimedia News Story of the Year for their reporting on the district’s retaliatory investigation against a union leader and the questions of academic freedom that arose from it. The team was recognized for their work in digital storytelling using audio interviews, data, public records and graphics to deliver watchdog reporting. The story package also won first place for investigative reporting in the College Media Association Pinnacle awards, competing with community colleges nationally.
“This story took a ton of time, effort and brain power. I could not be more proud of our team to receive recognition for an important story that had not been really addressed on our campus,” said Rhodes, who also netted a first-place win for sports game story from CMA. “Being a part of the group that continuously adds first place trophies to The Hornet’s mantle is super humbling.”
Hornet Media, which includes The Hornet news outlet, Inside Fullerton magazine, and Hornet Radio, was one of 11 schools and the only community college to earn the prestigious Multiplatform Pacemaker Award from ACP, nicknamed the “Pulitzer Prize” of college media.
Other wins against four-year schools in the ACP contest included social media reporting for The Hornet’s coverage of California propositions on the ballot in the 2024 election, magazine page design for graphic design students Juliana Vargas and Matthew Erboza and two magazine illustration awards for art student Lukas Petrina Morrison.
Inside Fullerton magazine made additional waves across the nation for its art direction and evocative content, taking first place for cover design for Vargas and Erboza and first place for cover illustration for photography student Julianne Villamil in both the CMA Pinnacle awards and the Journalism Association of Community Colleges SoCal Regional awards, competing against two-year colleges. The cover story explored the “jotería” movement, in which queer Latinx scholars and artists reclaim an epithet as a tool for community empowerment. Additionally, Inside Fullerton scored a first place win for arts and entertainment video story for Aydan Azzara and Sabrina Mercado for their innovative video highlighting the best study spots at Disneyland.
The Hornet’s commitment to reporting on tough issues didn’t go unnoticed. An enterprise story on the predatory tactics of religious groups that recruit on college campuses took home first place for coverage of faith in the CMA Pinnacles for Arianna Pastrana, Maria Cruz and Dylan Arreola and the accompanying illustration by Morrison won first place in both the CMA and JACC awards.
“This piece was one of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on,” said Pastrana. “I’m grateful to my sources for their courage and to my team for believing in the importance of telling this story.”
Additionally, Morrison’s illustration on the Trump administration’s threats to independent journalism and student media won first place for editorial cartoon in both the CMA and JACC competitions. Meanwhile, Sal Castro’s profile of Sylvia Mendez, a national civil rights icon and Fullerton resident, also won first place for magazine profile in the JACC contest, competing with two-year schools in the Southern California region.
This year, Hornet Radio made a splash as well, with a first place JACC award in podcast and audio news going to Orion Mena, Teddy Grimm and Bepa Perez for their segment on the threat of AI in the animation field. The podcast started as an assignment in Sabine Sighicelli’s “Writing for Cinema, Radio and Television” class, and was further developed and produced in the Hornet Radio studios.
“Our program’s biggest strength is its relationships with the other programs on campus,” said Jessica Langlois, journalism department chair and adviser to The Hornet and Inside Fullerton. “We teach students to write, report and speak truth to power, but we bring these stories to life with the help of faculty and students from the art, photography, radio, cinema and printing programs. We hope to build even more collaborations in the future.”
The Fullerton College journalism program is the oldest collegiate journalism program in Orange County and one of the oldest in the state. The Hornet student news outlet published its first newspaper in 1923 and has been fully digital since 2017. It publishes daily stories online during the semester and features videos and podcasts.
Inside Fullerton magazine is a glossy print and digital publication produced every semester by Fullerton College journalism students. Art professor Stephen Klippenstein is the print design adviser, and the magazine is printed at Fullerton College under the advisement of printing technology professor Ben Cuatt. Copies are available in the blue newsstands on campus. The Fall 2025 issue is set to launch in December 2025.
Hornet Radio, formerly known as 90.1 KBPK, is a 24-hour online radio station streaming music, podcasts, live coverage of Fullerton College sports events and other news, sports and culture content. Station manager Joseph Pavlenko and technician Ryan Osborn support student production of podcasts, live-streamed and multimedia content across Hornet Media’s properties.
Students who wish to join the staff of one of the student media outlets can register for JOUR 222: News Media Production, JOUR 132: Magazine Production, CRTV 145: Sports Broadcasting, or CRTV 129: Broadcast News.
Follow the work of Fullerton College’s student journalists on Instagram for more updates and the latest news.
