Awards

TSL’s journalists have been recognized locally and throughout California for outstanding reporting, writing, photography, graphics and design.

2024

From the California College Media Association:

First place forBest Newspaper for Ben Lauren, Ansley Washburn, Elena Townsend-Lerdo, June Hsu and Tania Azhang

First place forBest Overall Newspaper Design for Emma Constable, Jake Chang, Virginia Carroll, Amy Liu, Ben Lauren and Ansley Washburn

First place forBest Breaking News Story for Ben Lauren, Ansley Washburn, June Hsu and Annabelle Ink’s “20 student protesters arrested at Pomona College”

First place forBest Editorial for Ben Lauren, Willa Umansky, Maya Olson, Samson Zhang, Juliette Des Rosiers and Frances Walton’s,“You can’t silence us: A united front against Pomona’s repression”

First place forBest Social Media Reporting for Ben Lauren, Ansley Washburn, Elena Townsend-Lerdo, June Hsu, Annabelle Ink and Adam Akins’ coverage of student arrests and activism

First place forBest Photo Illustration for Sasha Matthews’ graphic in“OPINION: 5C students should ditch the 1-10 ‘hotness’ scale”

Second place forBest Podcast for Ben Lauren and Dania Anabtawi’s news analysis podcast,TSL: The Splash

Second place forBest News Photograph for Sarah Ziff’s photo in“Wildfires run rampant through Southern California, causing concern for 5C community”

Second place forBest Newspaper Website for Ben Lauren, Ansley Washburn, Elena Townsend-Lerdo, June Hsu and Tania Azhang

Third place forBest Interactive Graphic for Dania Anabtawi’s“The 5Cs Class of 2028 by the numbers”

Third place forBest Social Justice Coverage for Ben Lauren, Ansley Washburn, June Hsu, Annabelle Ink and Dania Anabtawi’s coverage of campus activism amid the Israel-Palestine War.

Third place forBest Newspaper Inside Page/Spread Design for Emma Constable, Jake Chang, Ben Lauren, Ansley Washburn and Elena Townsend-Lerdo’s layout of“A history of protest in Alexander Hall”

Third place forBest Special Election Issue for Ansley Washburn, June Hsu and Tania Azhang’selection spread

Third place forBest Sports Photograph for Sarah Ziff’s photo in“P-P cross country shows out at home invitational after pre-nationals win”

Third place forBest Arts and Entertainment Story for Ananya Vinay’s “Beethoven’s 9th Symphony: An Ode to Joy by Pomona College Orchestra and Choir”

Third place forBest Non-Breaking News Story for Caelan Reeves’ “A history of occupying Pomona College’s Alexander Hall”

Third placeBest News Series for Ben Lauren, Ansley Washburn, June Hsu and Annabelle Ink’s continued coverage of Pomona College’s response to pro-Palestinian activism on campus

2023

From the California College Media Association:

First place forBest Overall Newspaper Design for Grace Sauers, Emma Constable, Hannah Weaver and Maxine Davey

First place forBest Special Issue/Section for Averi Sullivan, Jenna McMurtry, Anuradha Krishnan, Saru Potturi, Rowan Gray and Daisy Alvarez’s“Bringing Light to Black Resistance”

First place forBest Breaking News Story for Jenna McMurtry, Mariana Duran, Reia Li and Maxine Davey’s“Claremont Police Department arrests Pomona faculty member on campus”

First place forBest Photo Illustration for Sasha Matthews’ graphic in“Sappho as queer icon: At Pomona College, Ella Haselswerdt talks lesbian futurism and queer theory”

Second place for Best News Series for Ben Lauren, Maya Zhan, Maxine Davey, Sara Cawley, Mariana Duran and Annabelle Ink’s coverage of community responses to violence in Israel and Gaza

Second place for Best Social Media Reporting for Mariana Duran, Maxine Davey and Ben Lauren’s“Instagram coverage of student protests”

Second place for Best Sports Story for Ansley Washburn’s“Under new leadership, Sagehens men’s cross country secures third NCAA championship title”

Second place for Best Vertical Short Video for Quinn Dwyer and Averi Sullivan’s“Where to Find TSL Newspapers (with Rafa and Gus)”

Third place for Best Newspaper Inside Page/Spread Design for Grace Sauers, Bella Pettengil, Hannah Weaver, Gerrit Punt and Averi Sullivan’s“Claremont Issue Spread”

Third place forBest Feature Story for Ben Lauren’s“112 years ago, the Boston Red Sox faced off against Pomona College. Today they are working together to change the perception of DIII baseball”

Third place for Best Illustration for Nicole Cepeda’s graphic in“Moments to Savor: The comical contents of greenboxes”

Third place forBest Headline Portfolio for Ben Lauren

Third place forBest Podcast for Hannah Weaver, Gerrit Punt, Ananya Vinay, Audrey Matei, Lina Chang, Julia Parsa’s “TSL Podcast: News Splash”

2022

From the California College Media Association:

First place forBest Newspaper for Jenna McMurtry, Mena Bova, Larkin Barnard-Bahn, Jasper Davidoff, Caelan Reeves, Anushe Engineer

First place forBest Newspaper Website for Elizabeth Johnson, Samson Zhang, James Karsten, Jasper Davidoff, Jenna McMurtry

First place forBest Overall Newspaper Design for James Karsten, Grace Sauers, Jasper Davidoff, Anushe Engineer, Caelan Reeves

First place forBest Editorial for Jasper Davidoff, Caelan Reeves’“EDITORIAL BOARD: Does the Roberts Campus really exemplify ‘responsible leadership'”

First place forBest Social Media Reporting for Samson Zhang, Jasper Davidoff, Bella Pettengill, Jenna McMurtry, Bithia Negusu, Clare A’Hearn

First place forBest Feature Story for Ava Francis-Hall, Katherine Tan, Samson Zhang’s“Invasion of Ukraine weighs heavily on 5C community members with connections to the conflict”

First place forBest News Photograph for Mariana Duran’s photo in“Hundreds rally for Labor Day calling for raises for Pomona dining workers”

First place forBest Social Justice Coverage Siena Swift, Jenna McMurtry, Sara Cawley, Hannah Weaver, John Paul Ferrantino, Elina Lingappa

First place forBest News Series Siena Swift, Mariana Duran, Jenna McMurtry, Sara Cawley, Serena Li

First place forBest Interactive Graphic for Samson Zhang, Rya Jetha, Mariana Duran, Reia Li, Jenna McMurtry’s graphics on“The cost of increasing costs: Accounting for tuition increases at the 5Cs”

Second place forBest Newspaper Inside Page/Spread Design for Kayla Alcorcha, Lucia Marquez Uppman, Jenna McMurtry, Grace Sauers

Second place forBest Arts & Entertainment Story for Mirabella Miller’s“Everybody wants to rule the Wordle: Behind 5C students’ passion for daily word game”

Second place forBest Special Issue/Section forJenna McMurtry, Averi Sullivan, Reia Li, Katherine Tan, John Paul Ferrantino, Elina Lingappa, Maxine Davey, Valerie Braylovskiy, Mariana Duran, Rya Jetha, Wally Bargeron, Abby Porter, Julia Schwartz, Samson Zhang and Siena Swift, James Karsten, Grace Sauers, Jasper Davidoff’sVol. CXXXIV, Issue 4 Black History Month spread

Second place forBest Infographic for Unity Tambellin-Smith an Asaka Mori’s graphics in“Facing potential litigation, Claremont denies state’s claim that it broke housing laws over Larkin Place”

Second place forBest Headline Portfolio for Jasper Davidoff

Second place forBest Breaking News Story for Jasper Davidoff’s“CMC mistakenly offers admitted students $40,000 scholarship awards”

Second place forBest Photo Illustration for Clare Martin’s graphic in“Literary wanderings: The poet who shows us the beauty of everyday moments”

Second place forBest Newspaper Column for Cassidy Bensko’s
“The 5 to 10”

Third place forBest Newspaper Front Page Design for Marcella Cannatti, Caelan Reeves, Anushe Engineer, Grace Sauers, James Karsten, Jasper Davidoff’sVol. CXXXIV, Issue 17

Third place forBest Sports Photograph: Abbey Liao’s photo in“Sagehen men’s basketball crowned SCIAC postseason champions for third consecutive season”

2021

From the California College Media Association:

First place for Best COVID-19 Coverage forMariana Duran, Elina Lingappa, Wally Bargeron, Samson Zhang and Siena Swift’sstories andprojects throughout the year

First place for Best Interactive Graphic for Samson Zhang and Jenna McMurtry’sPomona’s class of 2025, visualized

First place for Best Newspaper Inside Page/Spread Design for James Karsten and Selena Lopez’s work onVol. CXXXIII, Issue 4

First place for Best Editorial forPomona’s disciplinary system is ‘educational.’ Until it isn’t

First place for Best Headline Portfolio for Jasper Davidoff

Second place for Best Overall Newspaper Design

Second place for Best Feature Story for Gabriel Sherman and Maria Heeter’sThe rise and fall of @5C_roomiesss

Second place for Best Breaking News Story for Anushe Engineer, Gabriel Sherman and Yasmin Elqutami’sP-P quarterback’s TikTok videos spark outrage from 5C community, prompt calls to administration for further action

Third place for Best Social Justice Coverage for Jenna McMurtry, John Paul Ferrantino and Jasper Davidoff’scoverage ofdivestment protests

Third place for Best Newspaper

From the California News Publishers Association:

First place for Best News Photo for Anna Choi’s work inAs KKR Kills protests continue, demonstrators denounce CMC’s response

First place for Best COVID-19 Coverage for Wally Bargeron and Elina Lingappa’s5C students in quarantine face a steep learning curve: ‘You really don’t know what you’re supposed to do’

Second place for Best COVID-19 Coverage for Lucia Stein and Khimmoy Hudson’sTesting? Testing? At Scripps, it’s not always easy to access

Second place for Best Sports Photo for Abbey Liao’s work inP-P women’s soccer off to a dominating start, looking to replicate last season’s success

Third place for Best Illustration for Bella Pettengill’s work inLiterary wanderings: Getting a prescription at the poetry pharmacy

Fourth place forGeneral Excellence (four-year universities)

Fifth place for Online General Excellence(four-year universities)

2020

From the California College Media Association:

First place for Best Newspaper Front Page Design for James Karsten and Helena Ong’s work onVol. CXXX, Issue 16

First place for Best Social Media Reportingfor Bansi Patel and Anna Horne’s work on @tslnews

First place for Best Illustration for Crystal Yang’s work in“Chew on this: The bitter taste of disparities in the presentation and popularization of food”

First place for Best Photo Illustration for Jasper Davidoff and Anna Horne’s work in“Facing challenges of remote instruction, 5C faculty and students get creative”

First place for Best Sports Story for Matthew Kim and Kellen Browning’s“Long before his NBA titles, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich says he ‘fell in love’ with Division III lifestyle at Pomona-Pitzer”

Second place for Best Social Justice Coverage for Anushe Engineer’s work in “Anti-Racism and Black Activism at the Claremont Colleges”

Second place for Best Interactive Graphic for Christopher Murdy’s“Facing virus surge, some LA-area colleges reconsider in-person classes for the fall”

Third place for Best Newspaper

Third place for Best News Series for “Multi-College Staff Furloughs”

Third place for Best Newspaper Inside Page/Spread Design for James Karsten and Helena Ong’s work on“Love & Style” (February 2020)

Third place for Best Arts and Entertainment Story for Larkin Barnard-Bahn’s“CMC senior Kiubon Kokko scores finalist nod at Study Abroad Film Festival”

Third place for Best Editorial for Donnie Denome’s “OPINION: Returning to campus this fall would be so much worse than you think”

2019

From the California News Publishers Association:

First place forBest Writing for Donnie TC Denome’s“Loud hands are proud hands: The joy, freedom, and pain of stimming”

First place forBest Profile Storyfor Laney Pope and Siena Swift’s“What’s going on at the Denver House? Students in spiritual group push back against cult rumors”

Fourth place forBest Photo Illustration for Talia Bernstein’s work in“The darker side of sports: Career-ending athletic injuries and adjusting to life afterward”

From the California College Media Association:

First place forBest Feature Storyfor Laney Pope and Siena Swift’s“What’s going on at the Denver House? Students in spiritual group push back against cult rumors”

First place for Best Sports Story for Matthew Kim’s“The darker side of sports: Career-ending athletic injuries and adjusting to life afterward”

First place for Best Infographic for Meghan Joyce’s graphics in“5Cs announce class of 2023 admissions, but multiple schools withhold information”

Second place for Best Breaking News Story for Hank Snowdon and Kellen Browning’s“Claremont McKenna College grapples with second student death in a week”

Second place for Best Newspaper Column for Donnie TC Denome’s“Loud hands are proud hands: The joy, freedom, and pain of stimming”,“Disability support goes beyond accommodations” and“How ‘giving voice to the voiceless’ ignores nuance”

Second place for Best Feature Photograph for Talia Bernstein’s photo in“International students dazzle at 2019 International Autumn Gala”

Second place for Best Interactive Graphic for Jaimie Ding’s graphics in“Claremont trustees have donated more than $7 million to political causes since 2015, with CMC leading the way”

Second place for Best Podcast for Megan Chourreau-Lyon, Ellie Woodward-Webster, Zoey Ginsberg, Ottilia Nummelin and Meghan Bobrowsky’s first episode of“Across the 7 Seas”

2018

From the California College Media Association:

First Place forBest Podcastfor Emily Pugh’s “Seven Things”

Second Place forBest Newspaper Front Page Design

Second Place forBest Interactive Graphic for Meghan Joyce’s“Breakdown of Sports Diversity”

Second Place forBest Sports Storyfor Hank Snowdon’s“Racial diversity among P-P, CMS athletes not reflective of student bodies”

Second Place forBest Illustrationfor Meghan Joyce’s“Catch her in the studio, ‘how bout dat,’ Hollywood?”

Second Place forBest Arts and Entertainment Storyfor Sean Ogami’s“‘Cage at Claremont’ celebrates the work and life of renowned composer John Cage”

Second Place forBest Editorialfor Samuel Breslow’s“Breaking free of the Athenaeum mold”

Second Place forBest Feature Storyfor Torrey Hart’s“From Walk-On To National Champion: Tyra Abraham On Her Running Career That Almost Wasn’t”

Third Place forBest Newspaper Website

Third Place forBest Inside Page Spreadfor Cassie Wang’s, Sarah Wong’s and Lauren Ison’s “Survivors Speak Out About 5C Title IX Sexual Violence Policies”