Chico State newspaper places 5th in general excellence

The Orion wrapped up a great awards haul Thursday, earning fifth place in General Excellence in the 2020 California News Publishers Association’s California Journalism Awards four-year college competition.

The honor brought the total to five in the statewide competition for The Orion, Chico State’s independent student newspaper.

General Excellence is considered the most prestigious award in the competition, going to the newspapers that are considered the best all-around in terms of journalistic quality. And this year, journalists were facing challenges like at no time in the past.

“After decades of printing, The Orion suddenly became a digital only publication in March 2020. We’ve had no access to our newsroom and no in-person meetings,” said Pate McMichael, adviser to The

Orion. “We have journalists on staff who’ve never seen Chico, but still meet their deadlines. They’ve all made the university proud.”

McMichael gave special thanks to editor-in-chief Chloe Curtis, who “did a remarkable job keeping us afloat despite low enrollment.”

Previously, Orion staffer Erin Holve took first place in the Coverage of the COVID-19 Pandemic category with her entry “Fearing for my father’s life.”

Photographer Angel

Ortega took second in the Feature Photo category for his photo, “Chico State celebrates black gospel for Black History Month.”

Kimberly Morales placed fourth in that category with her story “Internal investigation finds $1 million in alleged fraud by 4 employees of Chico State’s Department of Accounting.”

Placing fifth in the writing category were Matthew Wreden, Curtis and Morales for their coverage of the North Complex fires.