FULLERTON, CALIF.—The Hornet’s 2024 election coverage—the first of its kind—won first place for best social media reporting and election special issue at the California College Media Association awards, competing with two-year colleges. 

“It feels amazing knowing that the effort we put towards thorough coverage of local elections not only helped inform our community but was recognized for the impact it made,” said Dylan Arreola, editor-in-chief of The Hornet since last fall. 

The Hornet collaborated with the Fullerton Observer newspaper and Hornet Radio, the student radio station overseen by the journalism program, on informational proposition videos, local candidate interviews, and live video coverage on election night focused on local races. 

“This was a big presidential election year, but we know it’s also essential for voters to get information on smaller, local races that directly impact them,” said Jessica Langlois, journalism department chair and adviser to the student media outlets. “The students put in many late nights working on multimedia coverage. I’m proud of them for their commitment to journalism and its important role in the democratic process.” 

The journalism students at Fullerton College’s publications—The Hornet news outlet and Inside Fullerton magazine—earned 11 first place awards and 30 additional accolades in national and statewide competitions at this year’s Associated Collegiate Press college media conference in Long Beach, California. 

Student journalists and advisers from across the country gathered at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach for a three-day conference March 6-8, 2025, featuring workshops led by seasoned journalists, equipping students with industry tools and confidence to strengthen their newsrooms. 

The Hornet also won third place in the California College Media Association awards for its coverage of the curriculum committee and Faculty Senate’s decisions on whether to remove several areas from Fullerton College’s associate degree graduation requirements. Two articles breaking down the requirements, multiple breaking news stories on important votes, a board editorial on problems with the process, and a video and social media reel documenting the intense debate sparked conversation about how the decision would impact students and the college community. 

The students of the Hornet Media organization won additional awards in design, newswriting, sports writing, feature writing, video, photography, illustration and web layout.  The Hornet won first place for Best News or Feature Video, competing with community colleges, for “Composing Through the Silence,” a video profile on Jacob Boland, a hard-of-hearing music composer and conductor. 

The Hornet’s website was acknowledged with the Online Pacemaker award, one of the highest honors in recognizing excellence in student journalism. Inside Fullerton has won the prestigious Magazine Pacemaker award, announced in the fall, for three years in a row. At the CCMAs, Inside Fullerton won third place for best magazine against two-year and four-year schools across the state.

Inside Fullerton beat out other two-year schools in awards for the magazine’s art direction—recognizing design, illustration and photography.  

Designers Juliana Vargas and Matthew Lazaga, illustrator Brandi Kim and editor Madeline Rhea Sigur won first place for best infographic and editorial cartoon for the “Let’s Talk Celebrities” flash poll at the CCMA awards and secured another victory at the Journalism Association of Community Colleges state awards.  

Fullerton College photography students George Gurrola, Jesse Guzman and Jacob Lopez also won first place for best environmental portrait and additional awards for best photo series for their photos of basketball coach, Perry Webster.  

A year after it was published, the “Everyone’s Doing It! How Only Fans is Remaking Porn” podcast continues to earn critical acclaim. It won two best podcast awards in JACC and CCMAs statewide competitions against community colleges, picking up more trophies for its compelling content about sex work with engaging storytelling and contextualized interviews. The podcast was reported, written and produced by several Hornet Media alumni and previously won first place at the College Media Association Pinnacle Awards and JACC’s SoCal regional awards in fall 2024.  

“Winning all these achievements was such a rewarding experience. It feels amazing to be recognized and celebrated for your hard work among your peers and fellow journalists,” said Karla Garcia, editor-in-chief of Inside Fullerton magazine, who won fourth place in magazine opinion at JACC for her opinion story on fangirl culture in music. “This incredible turnout was made possible by everyone’s hard work and passion, so it definitely paid off.”  

Inside Fullerton’s Melanie White also won first place for best profile at JACC for a story about Fullerton drag racer Ashley Sanford. The Winter 2024 issue also dominated the People’s Choice awards—taking first place—which was voted on by participating schools at the publication exchange room at the student media conference in Long Beach.  

“Each year, our journalism students keep raising the bar higher than the last,” said Langlois. “That energy in the newsroom is infectious—it’s great to see the students really take ownership of the work they are producing.”  

The Fullerton College journalism program is the oldest collegiate journalism program in Orange County and one of the oldest in the state. The Hornet student news outlet published its first newspaper in 1923 and has been fully digital since 2017. It publishes daily stories online during the semester and features videos and podcasts.  

Inside Fullerton magazine is a glossy print and digital publication distributed every semester by Fullerton College journalism students. Print copies are available in the blue newsstands on campus. The Summer 2025 issue is set to launch May 2025.  

Students who wish to join the staff of one of the student media outlets can register for JOUR 222: News Media Production, JOUR 132: Magazine Production, CRTV 145: Sports Broadcasting or CRTV 129: Broadcast News.  

Follow the work of our student journalists on Instagram for The Hornet and Inside Fullerton.