Free Lance Sports Editor Emanuel Lee was a winner at the May 4 California Journalism Awards, presented by the California News Publishers Association.
Lee won fourth-place recognition in the Sports Feature Writing category for a story on “AKA, House of Champions” in the Free Lance in 2018. Lee also won a Sports Feature Writing Award for a Free Lance article in 2016. The Free Lance also won three CNPA awards for 2017, for in-depth reporting and editorial writing.
A Free Lance sister newspaper, the Gilroy Dispatch, was awarded First Place for General Excellence, the highest honor for California newspapers, in the annual journalism in the weekly newspaper circulation 11,001-25,000 category.
The judge wrote of the Gilroy Dispatch:
“Solid writing and very newsy stories. I like the way they approach some governmental coverage with real people and not a recitation of events. There is nice ad support. The sports stories and photos were engaging and a real bright spot.”
The Free Lance and its San Benito magazine share news editorial, advertising and design staff with the Gilroy Dispatch and the Morgan Hill Times.
Reporter Michael Moore won a second-place award for In-Depth Reporting, for a series of stories in the Dispatch on the death of Steven Juarez in police custody. Several of these articles appeared in the Free Lance.
Moore also writes about criminal justice and legal issues for the Free Lance.
The other sister newspapers in the Metro Newspapers group won a total of 16 CNPA awards.
