Capital & Main Wins 17 Awards, Top Prize for Investigative Reporting

Capital & Main took home 17 prizes at the 61st annual Southern California Journalism Awards on Sunday, June 30, including the top honor for Online Investigative Reporting. Contributor Robin Urevich won the first-place investigative award for her series on the deaths of immigrants in detention centers, while senior reporter Jessica Goodheart won third place in the prestigious Online Journalist of the Year category.

Capital & Main was awarded first place for a story in its 2018 series on the high cost of living in California, by Eric Pape, as well as for two pieces by Gustavo Arellano on racial and religious intolerance in Orange County.

In awarding Urevich and Capital & Main the top prize for online investigative series, the judges wrote: “A sobering, shocking story that succeeds on many different levels…a worthy first-place winner among a crowded field of candidates.”

For Pape’s story, the judges wrote: “Excellent data-based reporting supported by smart voices who simplify and explain a complex, important topic.”

Capital & Main also won seven second-place honors and five additional third-place prizes:

• “Battery Blood: How California Health Agencies Failed Exide Workers,” by Joe Rubin (Second place in three categories: Online News – Government/Politics; Online Hard News – Feature; and General – Local Political/Government Reporting)
• “Beto vs. Democrats: Texas Lawmaker Frequently Voted to Help Trump and GOP,” by David Sirota (Second place, National Political/ Government Reporting)
• “Mentors Under Siege: California’s DACA Teachers,” by Bill Raden (Third place, Educational Reporting)
• “Epicenters of Refuge: A Tale of Two Cities,” by Arturo Talavera (Third place, Photo Essay – News/News Feature)
• “Freeway Robbery: Confronting Hollywood’s Wage-Theft Culture,” by Charles Davis (Second place, Online Entertainment Feature)
• “Deadly Detention: Self-Portrait of a Tragedy,” by Robin Urevich (Second place, Online Minority/Immigration Reporting)
• “Negotiating Trauma: How Susan Burton Gave Discarded Women a Tomorrow,” by Alex Demyanenko (Second place, Online Personality Profile)
• “Do Incarcerated Firefighters Deserve a Path to Employment?,” by Larry Buhl (Third place, Public Service News or Feature)
• “Los Angeles Renters Fight Back to Keep Their Pets—and Homes,” by Carol Mithers (Third place, Online News – Culture)
• “Four Ways California Can Beat Trump’s Solar Tariff,” by Judith Lewis Mernit (Third place, Online Political Commentary – Local)

The SoCal Journalism Awards are decided by volunteer journalists representing press organizations from across the country, and are sponsored by the Los Angeles Press Club.

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