Hornet Media – including The Hornet and Inside Fullerton Magazine – won 41 awards Saturday, March 8 at three different ceremonies at the Associated Collegiate Press Spring Conference at the Hyatt Regency in Long Beach, Calif.
These achievements included an Online Pacemaker from ACP, 31 schools were named finalists, only four from that list being community colleges. The Online Pacemaker judges based on all content published from Fall 2024.
This is The Hornet’s second year in a row winning and Editor-in-Chief Dylan Arreola was proud. “The pacemaker itself is kind of a testament to how much work that both me and Maria [Cruz], my managing editor, put into the newspaper,” Arreola said. “We were put in a very unexpected position, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the outcome.”
Managing Editor Maria Cruz said she believes The Hornet crew is small but mighty. “ We worked really hard as a small team,” Cruz said. “ Being a small team didn’t stop us from providing stories that really will help inform the community.”
Additionally from ACP, Inside Fullerton won the category for People’s Choice. Magazine samples were displayed for colleges who attended the conference, to pick their top five from the selection.
Furthermore, the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) gave 23 awards to the program. Inside Fullerton Creative Directors Matthew Lazagaand, Juliana Vargas, and Staff Reporter Madeline Rhea Sigur won first place in design awards for Best Informational Graphic. “Show of Hands: Let’s Talk Celebrities” displayed poll results surrounding celebrity culture and privacy.
Arreola also won fourth place for his story, “Photo Gallery: When printmaking comes to life”, a photo gallery depicting a collaboration between the artist-in-residence printmaker, Pavel Acevedo, and printmaking faculty, for a workshop in March 2024.
Arreola reflected on the troubles he faced while penning this particular story. “My computer died the night that it was due,” said Arreola. “I had to go to my girlfriend’s house and use her 10 year old laptop that had to be plugged into the wall the entire time and had a very faded screen, and I almost didn’t get it done in time.”
In addition to awarding published work, JACC also hosts on-the-spot competitions throughout the conference. Arts and Culture Editor Samiy Castillo Bolivar competed in the Feature Story section without even knowing what a feature entailed.
“I didn’t really know exactly what a feature was, so I tried looking it up the night before,” Castillo Bolivar said. “I was looking [up], how does one write a feature? What is the structure of a feature? What does a feature even mean?”
Castillo Bolivar still had confidence despite his naivety and ended up placing fourth. “I did not expect them at all so it was very rewarding,” Castillo Bolivar said. “I feel very happy about it, and I was able to learn more about myself and how I just have to try and that I can do it.”
The California College Media Association gave 13 awards to Hornet Media. This included six first place awards specifically for Best Election Special Issue. The judges stated: “Tour de force team coverage, all hands using all media (stories, videos, reels, YouTube) to deliver useful information to voters.”
The 2024 election coverage included collaborations between the Fullerton Observer newspaper and Hornet Radio. Together, they were able to create informational proposition videos, local candidate interviews, and live video coverage on election night to inform the community.
Cruz and former multimedia editor for The Hornet, Danny Diaz won first place for Best News or Feature video for their profile “Composing through the silence” which highlights the story of deaf composer, Jacob Boland.
“That video, it took me four or five days to work with,” Cruz said. “I was in the newsroom from 3:30 p.m all the way to 2 a.m. Just working on Premiere Pro editing everything. It was lots of nights of no sleep but it paid off, I’m very proud of it.”
Cruz remembers how shocked she was when she won. “ When they said my name for first place, I felt shaky,” Cruz said. “I was shaking when I went up there to get my award because I just never thought that that would be possible.”
Arreola reflects on what he believes led to the success of this awards season. “My first semester as [editor-in-chief], I went into it just trying to survive and just trying to keep the newspaper afloat, because I had no idea what I was doing,” Arreola said. “But part way through the semester I realized how many great opportunities there are and what grade of a direction we could put the Hornet, and I acted on that.”
Below is a complete list of categories for which the students are finalists or award-winners:
Associated Collegiate Press 2025 Pacemaker Awards:
Competing nationally with either two-year or four-year schools, depending on the category
PACEMAKER WINNER – Online Pacemaker – The Hornet
WINNER – Two-year Magazine Pacemaker – Inside Fullerton
WINNER – Two-year Multiplatform Pacemaker – Hornet Media
PEOPLE’S CHOICE WINNER – Best Magazine – Inside Fullerton
SECOND PLACE – Best in Show – Feature Magazine – Inside Fullerton
SECOND PLACE – Best in Show – Website – The Hornet
California College Media Association 2025 Publication Awards:
Competing nationally with either two-year or four-year schools, depending on the category
FIRST PLACE – Election Special Issue – The Hornet
FIRST PLACE – Social Media Reporting – The Hornet
FIRST PLACE – Infographic – Matthew Lazaga, Juliana Vargas, and Madeline Rhea Sigur
FIRST PLACE – Editorial Cartoon – Brandi Kim
FIRST PLACE – Podcast – Gerardo Chagolla, Aaliyah Skipper, Mariana Escoto, Julianne Le
FIRST PLACE – News or Feature Video – Maria Cruz, Danny Diaz-Lujan
SECOND PLACE – Photo Illustration – Madeline Rhea Sigur, Rebecca Price Huston
THIRD PLACE – Magazine (competing with four-year schools statewide) – Mikey Moran, Karla Garcia, Eli Young, Matthew Lazaga, Juliana Vargas
THIRD PLACE – News Series – Jake Rhodes, Sara Leon, Dylan Arreola, Pedro Saravia, Quinn Cisneros, Jamal Walker
THIRD PLACE – Sports Story – Jake Rhodes
THIRD PLACE – News Photograph – Nathan Bass
THIRD PLACE – Multimedia Package – Jake Rhodes, Sara Leon, Natalia Fierro-Gomez, Pedro Saravia
THIRD PLACE – Photo Series – Jesse Guzman, George Gurrola, Jacob Lopez Cassarubias
Journalism Association of Community Colleges 2025 SoCal Publication Awards:
Competing with two-year schools in the Southern California region
FIRST PLACE – Profile – Melanie White
FIRST PLACE – Environmental Portrait – George Gurrola, Jesse Guzman, Jacob Lopez
FIRST PLACE – Informational Graphic – Matthew Lazaga, Juliana Vargas, Madeline Rhea Sigur
FIRST PLACE – Podcast/Audio News – Julianne Le, Mariana Escoto, Aaliyah Skipper, Gerardo Chagolla
THIRD PLACE – Online Photo Essay – Nathan Bass
THIRD PLACE – Video Soft News Reporting – Maria Cruz, Danny Diaz-Lujan
THIRD PLACE – Magazine News Feature – Mia Zacatenco
THIRD PLACE – Magazine Illustration – Rebecca Price Huston
FOURTH PLACE – Online Photo Essay – Dylan Arreola
FOURTH PLACE – Magazine Illustration – Rebecca Price Huston
FOURTH PLACE – Magazine Opinion – Karla Garcia
HONORABLE MENTION – Feature Writing – Alberto Orozco, Omeed Motia
HONORABLE MENTION – Sports Game Story – Jamal Walker
HONORABLE MENTION – Sports Feature Photo – Jose C. Gutierrez
HONORABLE MENTION – Sports Action Photo – Jose C. Gutierrez
HONORABLE MENTION – Photo Illustration – Rebecca Price Huston
HONORABLE MENTION – Photo Illustration – Rebecca Price Huston, Madeline Rhea Sigur
MERITORIOUS AWARD – Multimedia Journalism Package – Jake Rhodes, Sara Leon, Natalia Fierro-Gomez, Pedro Saravia
GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD – Online News Site – The Hornet
GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD – Magazine – Inside Fullerton
Journalism Association of Community Colleges 2023 SoCal On-the-Spot Competition:
Competing with attendees from two-year SoCal schools in day-of competitions
FOURTH PLACE – Feature Writing – Samiy Castillo Bolivar
HONORABLE MENTION – Copyediting – Samiy Castillo Bolivar
HONORABLE MENTION – Editorial Cartoon – Madeline Rhea Sigur
