Fresnoland and Bakersfield’s SJV Water website took top honors on April 23 in the 36th annual George F. Gruner Awards journalism competition for news publications in the central San Joaquin Valley.
Honors went to several newspapers as well as digital news sources, which became eligible for Gruner recognition just this year. Winning entries across categories included light-hearted feature stories, dramatic photography and incisive investigative work from throughout the Valley.
Sharing the award for public service, the top prize in the large newspapers/digital-only category was Fresnoland’s Omar Shaikh Rashad for his coverage of the Fresno City Council’s budget committee. Fresno is reportedly the only large city in California to claim that its budget committee can bar the public from viewing its proceedings.
Fresnoland is a nonprofit news website whose work appears periodically in The Fresno Bee and elsewhere. Rashad’s reporting sparked litigation regarding the state’s open meetings laws.
The other top honoree, Lois Henry, used her website, SJV Water, to detail how the J.G. Boswell Farming Co. of Corcoran imperiled area towns and other farmers by its handling of the extensive flooding in spring 2023. Judge James Risen commented that Henry’s “masterful coverage of the secretive J.G. Boswell Farming Company and its raw power over flood control and water politics in the Tulare Lake area reminded me of Chinatown, one of my favorite movies.”
Earning honorable mention in the same category was veteran reporter Doug Hoagland of the Munro Review, for his exhaustive work on behind-the-scenes machinations related to Measure P, the Fresno city arts and park tax that is raising millions of dollars annually.
The public service award in the small and weekly newspaper competition went to Darren Fraser of the Mid-Valley Times for breaking and continuing coverage on what became a national story: operation of an illegal and dangerous biolab in the small community of Reedley.
More than 800 biological materials and chemicals and 900 mice were ultimately found at the lab, drawing an alphabet soup group of local, state and national agencies into the resulting investigation. “It’s not the kind of story that small news organizations usually get,” a judge said. “But The Mid Valley Times handled it well.”
A public service honorable mention went to Edward Smith of the Business Journal for his deep dive into the slippery business practices of a mobile home park owner. As one judge put it, he “dissected how vulnerable working-class people can be forced into homelessness.”
The Gruner Awards honor George F. Gruner, who retired as executive editor in 1988 after 33 years at The Fresno Bee. The McClatchy Co., publisher of The Bee, established the awards in 1989. The Department of Media, Communications and Journalism at Fresno State independently administers the awards. Entries are judged by professional journalists from outside the contest area. The results were announced at an April 23 reception at Fresno State.
Here’s a rundown of the other awards.
Best news story
First place, large dailies/digital only
Gregory Weaver, Fresnoland, for uncovering flaws in the state’s environmental review of a major industrial park project proposed in Fresno. Judges praised Weaver for deep reporting “rich with voices — from environmentalists, neighbors, even a whistleblower — and demonstrates how the project could negatively impact a community already facing the worst pollution in the country.”
Honorable mention
Tim Sheehan, The Fresno Bee, for his work on the collapse of Bitwise Industries, the Fresno-based organization now mired in bankruptcy and federal prosecution.
First place, small dailies/weeklies
Parker Bowman, Hanford Sentinel, for his sweeping piece on the devastating flooding in the South Valley last year.
Honorable mention
Danielle Gutierrez, Mid Valley Times/Sun Gazette in Tulare County, for a piece about the overwhelming number of stray and abandoned pets after the pandemic and the impacts, including on the mental health of shelter workers.
Best column
Large dailies/digital: Garth Stapley, Modesto Bee, for his useful views on the horrific death of a homeless woman who was run over and dragged by mowing equipment in a public park.
Honorable mention: David Taub, GVWire in Fresno. A judge praised Taub’s ”deep reporting” and “compact and flawless” writing about the near-abandonment of a sculpture by a nationally known Fresno artist and the resulting efforts to save it.
Small papers/weeklies: Parker Bowman, Hanford Sentinel, who tested the authenticity of artificial intelligence by interviewing Chat GPT about the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” TV Show.
Honorable mention, Jon Hammond, Tehachapi News, for a colorful retelling of the first-ever flight over the Tehachapis, accomplished by a 24-year-old pilot in 1914.
Editorial writing
Large papers/digital: Tad Weber, Fresno Bee.
Honorable mention: Christine Peterson, Bakersfield Californian.
Both pieces were about the failings of Bakersfield’s Kevin McCarthy, former speaker of the House and the impact on government and politics. Weber’s piece should have made McCarthy squirm, one judge said, and another called it “a strong editorial that’s a pleasure to read.”
Small papers/weeklies: Greg Little and Nicole Little of the Mariposa Gazette, for “The Hospital Madness Must Stop.”
Feature story
Large dailies/digital: John Donegan, Bakersfield Californian, for a sensitive piece about the barriers to asylum faced by African immigrants.
Honorable mention: Juliana Morano, Fresnoland, for humanizing a story about public funding for the arts, focusing on the experiences and work of three artists.
Small papers/weeklies: Greg Little, Mariposa Gazette, for his tale of a woman who gave birth on a mountain road in the back of a Subaru. Her first child arrived on a hospital floor and her second in a hospital elevator.
Honorable mention: Juan Esparza Loera, Vida en el Valle, for his look into the changing world of Mexican folkloric dancing, highlighting a San Jose-based group shaking things up with its LGBTQ+-friendly performances.
Best news photo
Large dailies/digital: Craig Kohlruss, The Fresno Bee, for his drone photo of a lonely structure marooned in Tulare Lake amid 2023’s historic flooding. One judge said it “capitalizes on its starkness to the fullest extent.”
Honorable mention: Andy Alfaro, Modesto Bee, for his memorial to the homeless woman tragically killed by a landscaping crew.
Small dailies/weeklies: Ron Holman, Visalia Times-Delta, for a striking shot of Lemoore Naval Air Station sailors returning from a nearly seven-month deployment. “Great images need no captions,” wrote one of the judges.
Honorable mention: María G. Ortiz-Briones, Vida en el Valle, for a vibrant image illustrating her story on a Fresno family that raises marigolds for Day of the Dead celebrations.
Sports photo
Large dailies/digital only: Craig Kohlruss, The Fresno Bee, for a high school football action shot. “You can almost hear the crunching as bodies hit,” said a judge.
Honorable mention: John Donegan, Bakersfield Californian, for his image of a motorcyclist in midair during an action sports show.
Small dailies/weeklies
Ron Holman, Visalia Times-Delta, captured the delighted surprise of a pole vaulter clearing a bar. The spacious crop and afternoon light treated readers to a cinematic image, said one judge.
Honorable mention: Juan Esparza Loera, Vida en el Valle, for his image from a cross country meet. “You can feel the runners moving,” said a judge.
Sports story
Large papers/digital only: Ron Stapp, Bakersfield Californian, for his look at the critical shortage of sports officials for high school football. Judges said he explained why fewer people want to referee — including a lack of respect.
Honorable mention: Quinton Hamilton, Modesto Bee, for a piece about the introduction of flag football for girls in Stanislaus County high schools.
Small papers/weeklies: A tie between Shawn Jansen of the Merced Sun-Star and Vongni Yang of the Visalia Times-Delta.
Jansen wrote about a high school football player who changed his jersey number to honor his father, who died in a traffic accident just before the season. Yang also wrote about an athlete dealing with loss, a young woman who found support in softball after her stepfather, a police officer, killed himself.
Best writing
Large dailies/digital only: Gregory Weaver, Fresnoland, for chronicling a bitter power struggle among some of the region’s wealthiest, most influential farmers. “The story has so many elements — pistachio farming techniques and contrasting family histories, for instance — it could easily have become a muddle. Instead, Weaver keeps the tale moving and clearly outlines why each side thinks they’re the righteous ones who have been wronged,” one judge wrote.
Honorable mention: John Donegan, Bakersfield Californian, for “Medicine in the Field,” detailing efforts to bring medical care to Kern County’s rural homeless.
Small papers/weeklies: Lauren Jennings, Visalia Times-Delta, for her piece on the historic flooding. A judge said her story provided an intimate sense of the flood’s power and the disruption and loss.
Honorable mention: Frank Lopez, Business Journal, for an account of eight workers at a supply warehouse who had been together for 27 years since the company opened, “an uplifting, well reported feature.”
(Story by Jim Boren, director of the Institute for Media and Public Trust at Fresno State)
