Times Of San Diego Wins ‘Best News Site' As Staff Receives 11 Press Club Awards

By Editor, Times of San Diego

October 26, 2021

Times of San Diego received its fifth “Best News Site” award and staff members collected a total of 11 other awards Monday at the San Diego Press Club‘s 47th annual Excellence in Journalism Awards.

The awards were announced during a livestreamed presentation from the San Diego Automotive Museum in Balboa Park.

The website has been judged the best in five of the past six years, losing only to the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper in 2020.

The site’s contributing photographer, Chris Stone, received two first-place awards, including one for heart-wrenching coverage of the funeral for two police officers killed by a wrong-way driver.

Editor Chris Jennewein received a first place award for the website’s voter guide to the 2020 general election.

Contributing Editor Ken Stone too home seven awards, with four first-place citations, including “Best Headlines” in the online and daily newspapers category.

Marketing Columnist Rick Griffin took home one award for his work on Times of San Diego.

The Union-Tribune received the most awards, taking a total of 42, including one best in show.

The Press Club also presented three special career achievement awards. Recipients includeed Jeff McDonald with the Harold Keen Award for outstanding contributions in journalism, Scott McGaugh with the Andy Mace Award for career achievements in public relations, and Phyllis Pfeiffer with the Jim Reiman Award for excellence in media management.

“We’re fortunate San Diego attracts and retains the best and the brightest journalism and communication professionals,” said Eileen Gaffen, board president of the Press Club. “On behalf of the San Diego Press Club board of directors, congratulations to all of the Excellence in Journalism award winners.”

This year’s awards program drew more than 1,000 entries, making it one of the largest journalism competitions in the nation. Judges included members of 15 journalism professional organizations from around the country, including press clubs in San Francisco, New Orleans, Rochester, Florida, Cleveland, Orange County, Milwaukee, and Alaska.

A complete list of the winners is available online.

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