U-T Arts+Culture named best in nation

For the second year in a row, The San Diego Union-Tribune weekly section Arts+Culture has been named the best in the nation by the Society for Features Journalism.

The section, published on Sundays, won the top prize in 2021 and again this year, capturing first place in the Best Section category for Division 2 newspapers, those with circulations between 90,000 and 199,999.

This year, the Union-Tribune won the highest honor, with second place honors (tie) going to the St. Louis PostDispatch and the San Antonio Express-News.

In awarding the first-place prize to the Union-Tribune, judges said: “Bold, graphic and well-designed, the San Diego Union-Tribune's Arts+Culture Sunday section is loaded with style, but the stories also have substance, including features on how local artists are grappling with the pandemic and social justice issues.”

Last year, the section was praised for its series examining the effects of the pandemic shutdown on San Diego's arts community. This year's entries included deep dives into various community-centric arts topics, including racial equity in theater, musicians during the pandemic and perspectives on the American artistic experience.

“The last two years have not been easy for those in the arts, including the staff here at the U-T,” said Michael James Rocha, the newspaper's arts and entertainment editor. “But I have been truly amazed and proud of what we have been able to accomplish as a team. The stellar work that the writers, editors and visual journalists put into each section is truly impressive, and to do that in the middle of a challenging time, well, that just leaves me in awe. We are grateful for this honor.”

The Union-Tribune's sister paper, the Los Angeles Times, won first place in the same category for Division 3 newspapers, those with circulations of 200,000 and above. Earlier this year, the Arts+Culture section received second place in the arts and entertainment coverage category in the California News Publishers Association's annual competition. First place went to the Los Angeles Times. Both publications, run under the umbrella of California Times, are owned by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong.