Capital & Main Wins 37 California Journalism Awards

Capital & Main has won a total of 37 California Journalism Awards in the digital division, including best in-depth reporting, best investigative reporting and best feature photo, the California News Publishers Association announced Tuesday.

The CNPA’s annual California Journalism Awards recognize some of the best journalism produced by newspapers and online news organizations in the state of California.

Capital & Main journalist Dan Ross took home three first-place awards, two for his investigation into a cleanup “marked by confusion and shifting goalposts” at a troubled battery recycling facility, entitled “The Slow-Motion Cleanup of L.A.’s Exide Mess,” and another for a series he co-authored with publisher Danny Feingold that included the story “When COVID-19 Hit L.A. Nursing Homes, Where Was the County’s Department of Public Health?” The judges described the investigation into the Los Angeles health department’s response to these early COVID-19 outbreaks as “well-sourced, well-explained reporting [that] helped set this entry apart in a strong category of entrants.”

The website won first place for home page layout and design. The judges noted Capital & Main’s “excellent use of color and typography,” as well as its ”intriguing stories with strong headlines” and “nice use of photo illustration.”
 

 
The following is a complete list of the awards Capital & Main earned from CNPA for reporting in 2020:

First place among all digital publications:

• Investigative reporting: “The Slow-Motion Cleanup of L.A.’s Exide Mess” series by Dan Ross
• Feature photo: “Tulare County During the Pandemic – The Hard Price of Poverty” by David Bacon
• Home page layout and design: Capital & Main staff

 
First place among similar-sized news websites:

• Investigative reporting: “The Slow-Motion Cleanup of L.A.’s Exide Mess” series by Dan Ross
• Feature story: “A Century of Picking Grapes — Why the Census Matters in Tiny Poplar” by David Bacon
• In-depth reporting: “When COVID-19 Hit L.A. Nursing Homes, Where Was the County’s Department of Public Health?” by Danny Feingold, Dan Ross
• Writing: “On the Front Lines of ‘Reopen America’” by Steve Appleford
• Land use reporting: “Homeless Moms Seize Houses as Coronavirus Rages” by Steve Appleford
• Feature photo: “Tulare County During the Pandemic” by David Bacon
• News photo: “Through a Lens Darkly” by Ted Soqui
• Photo coverage of protests and racial justice: “Los Angeles in Turmoil” by Ted Soqui

 
Second place among similar-sized websites:

• Investigative reporting: “Death, Miscarriage and COVID-19: Inside ICE Air’s History of Medical Neglect” by Angelika Albaladejo
• Feature story: “As Droughts Ebb, California’s Water Issues Remain” by Sasha Abramsky
• Land use reporting: “Can Lawsuit Force Clovis to Roll Out Welcome Mat to Low Income Renters?” by Robin Urevich
• Feature photo: “Fresno: The Red and the Brown” by David Bacon
• Photo coverage of protests and racial justice: “Los Angeles in Turmoil” by Ted Soqui
• Public service journalism: “When COVID-19 Hit L.A. Nursing Homes, Where Was the County’s Department of Public Health?” by Danny Feingold, Dan Ross
• Local 2020 election coverage: “California Renters and Landlords Face Off at the Ballot Box” by Robin Urevich
• Enterprise news: Primary Snapshots (United States of Inequality series) by Capital & Main Staff

 
Third place among similar-sized websites:

• Feature photo: “Fresno: The Red and the Brown” by David Bacon
• Enterprise news: “The Geography of Despair: Homeless Deaths Are L.A.’s Other Epidemic” by Jessica Goodheart with maps by Joanne Kim
• Coverage of youth and education news: “Budget Crisis Threatens L.A. Teachers’ Hard-Won Gains” by Jack Ross
• Wildfire photo: “Saving Mt. Wilson” by Ted Soqui
• Coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic fallout: “Is the Golden State Reopening Too Soon?” by Sasha Abramsky, Bobbi Murray, Joe Rihn

 
Fourth place among similar-sized websites:

• Investigative reporting: “Perdue’s Time as Dollar General CEO Marked by Charges of Wage Theft, Race and Sex Discrimination” by Jessica Goodheart, Roxane Auer
• In-depth reporting: “The Struggle to Access HIV Prevention Meds” by Larry Buhl
• Feature photo: “Stay Home” by Ted Soqui
• News photo: “COVID Blue” by Ted Soqui
• Photo of protests and racial justice: “Los Angeles in Turmoil” by Ted Soqui
• Coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic health reporting: “Hand Over Fist: Health Insurers Make a Killing During Contagion” by Mark Kreidler
• Columns: “The Heat 2020” by Judith Lewis Mernit
• Video journalism: “The White Supremacist House: Extremism in the Trump Administration” by Marco Amador, Capital & Main Staff

 
Fifth place among similar-sized websites:

• Land use reporting: “A Jared Kushner-Connected Company Is Buying an L.A. Mall” by Jack Ross
• News photo: “Celebrating Biden’s Win” by Ted Soqui
• Coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic fallout: “L.A. Street Vendors Are Caught Between COVID and the Law” by Jack Ross, Janette Villafana
• Columns: “Pandemic Nation” by Mark Kreidler
• Coverage of protests and racial justice: “Minneapolis Confidential: It’s Not Just the Cop, It’s the Culture” by Judith Lewis Mernit

Copyright 2021 Capital & Main