EMS SALUTES ALL THE MEDIA WHO SUBMITTED ENTRIES AND MADE THIS A REALLY COMPETITIVE CONTEST:
2020 California Ethnic Media Award Winners
Census Category
Rose Davis, Indian Voices: English Language Print/Online
“Census and the Fourth Estate: Power to the People”
Araceli Martinez, La Opinion: In-language Print/Online
“Fears of not being counted persisted among Latinos”
Crystal Liang, Sky Link TV: In-language Broadcast TV
“SF Count Cooperates with Community to get everyone counted”
Frank Blanquet, First Nations Experience (FNX):
“Culture Story: Census 2020”
COVID Category
Kalynh Ngo, Người Việt Daily News: In-Language Print/Online
“Vietnamese Doctor Alleviates Disparities in Border Towns”
Christina Oriel, Asian Journal: English Language Print/Online
Two-part reporting series on COVID-19 pandemic in the Filipino community
Bernardino Claros, Steven Carter, Lucia Erazo, and Francisco Martinez
Lo Nuestro TV: In-language Broadcast TV
A special 1-hr report on COVID with live reporting from Los Angeles, Madrid, Washington, DC, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica.
John Thai Xuan Dinh and Ngoc Lan Thi Nguyen
Little Saigon TV: In-language Broadcast TV
“Stepping up: Vietnamese community mobilized to help combat the pandemic and its impacts”
Troy Espera, Steve Angeles, and Jon Santos
TAYO News/ABS-CBN: English Language Broadcast TV
Three-part reporting series about COVID-19 impacts in the Filipino community
Economic Crisis Category
Mariah Brown and Chuck Gibbs, Jr.,
Black Voice News: English Language Print/Online
“Housing Inequality Worsens As COVID pummels Black California”
David Weijiang Wang, Sing Tao Daily: In-language Print/Online
“Businesses go on the offense in critical times”
Kayi Li, Sky Link TV: In-language Broadcast TV
“Chinese restaurant Far East Cafe slated to close after 100 years during the pandemic”
Immigration Category
Erick Huerta, LA Taco: English Language Print/Online
“South Central swap meet faces uncertain future for immigrant owned businesses”
Han Li, World Journal – SF: In-language Print/Online
“Chinese DACA recipients want you to see them”
Carl Johnson and Annette “Nackie” Moli
PolyByDesign: English Video Streaming
Panel of experts discussing the urgent need for disaggregated data on Pacific Islanders during both the Census and pandemic.
Racial Justice Category
Julian Mark, Mission Local: English Language Print/Online Media
“Maurice Caldwell had his conviction overturned a decade ago: city attorney says he’s a killer”
Thien Le, Nguoi Viet Daily News: In-Language Print/Online Media
“Peaceful protest demands justice for Mr. Floyd in Westminster”
Danny Morrison,
Cesar Chavez Foundation: English Language Video Streaming
Three-part reporting on racial justice with a focus on Bakersfield, Central Valley.
Truc Ho Truong, SBTN: In-Language Broadcast TV
Three-part reporting series laid bare the social-political divisions within the Vietnamese communities in California/Texas against the background of racial protests across the country.
Kiyoon Kim, YTV America: In-Language Broadcast TV
Coverage of the Korean community’s involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement in Los Angeles
Climate Change Category
Jorge Macias, Univision Online: In-Language Print/Online Media
“Devastating forest fires in California surpass record“
Giovanni Albanese, Jr., India West: English Language Print/Online Media
“Napa wildfires ravage vineyards – how Indian American owned wineries largely escaped“
Elections Category
Leslie Layton, Chico Sol: English Language Print/Online
“Elections and Gridley’s political slumber”
Ruslan Ghurziy, Slavic Sacramento: English Language Print/Online
“Why refugees from the USSR are voting for Trump“
Juan Esparza, Vida En El Valle: In-Language Print/Online
“Portrait of the newly elected mayor Madera, a 63 year old postal service worker who’s turning the town upside down”
Julia Dudley Najieb, ONME News Media: English Language Broadcast TV
“Three-part reporting series on the coverage of the 2020 elections”
Commentary Category
Stephanie Williams, Black Voice News: English Language Print/Online
“Keeping It Real – Can you spell backwards, forwards”
Nestor Fantini, Hispanic LA: In-Language Print/Online
“Bomb Agrabah!: on the attack of the factual truth and the creation of the alternate realitty”
Henrietta Burroughs
East Palo Alto Today: English Language Video Streaming
“The Black Lives Matter movement: where do we go from here?”
Ruben Tapia, Radio Bilingue: In-Language Radio
Two-part series about lead poisoning in the underserved community of Southeast Los Angeles that has impacted thousands of homes and countless children.
Media Innovation Category
Henry Sales, Madeleine Bair, and Jacob Simas
An alliance of Radio B’alam, El Timpano, and Oaklandside
Using online radio streaming in indigenous languages of Mam, Kakchiquel, and Quiche languages to provide news and information and a voice to the Mayan community in the SF Bay Area.
Special Commendation
Jeanne Ferris, News from Native California
“Parallel Worlds – the converging paths of the Nuumu, Newe, and Nisei in Payahuunadu“
Ethnic Media Poet
Tony Lai, Khmer TV
Producing a reporting series on COVID health information and incorporate CDC’s health advisory messages into Khmer language poems to inform the Cambodian community during the pandemic.
Youth Voices
Vansh Gupta, Siliconeer
Creating a platform called Gen-Z, which gives students a voice in the community to showcase the brilliant minds of tomorrow: their stories, struggles, and aspirations.
2020 California Ethnic Media Award Hosts
Pilar Marrero
Odette Alcazaren-Keeley
2020 California Ethnic Media Award Judges
Anthony Advincula, Claudia Mendoza-Carruth, and Debra Nakatomi
Fiona Chan, Gabriel Lerner, and George Koo
Dr. James Yu, Jaya Padmanabhan, and Dr. José Luis Benavides
Julian Do, Kaiping Liu, and Khalil Abdullah
Nell Bernstein, Philip Choi, and Pilar Marrero
Sandy Close, Sunita Sohrabji, and Tanu Henry
2020 California Ethnic Media Award Tributes