LA Catholic publications win 29 Catholic Media awards

Angelus and its sister publications brought home a total of 29 Catholic Media Association (CMA) awards for works published in 2020. 

The awards were announced June 10 at the end of the annual Catholic Media Conference, which was held virtually for the second straight year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Angelus magazine won 21 total awards, including first place in the Best Essay, Best Illustration, Best Review, and Best Regular Column categories. The magazine also won two first place awards for its team coverage of the Jan. 2020 death of Catholic basketball superstar Kobe Bryant. 

The archdiocese’s Spanish-language newspaper, Vida Nueva, was only able to publish three issues in 2020 before the coronavirus lockdown paused publication. However, those three issues alone earned a total of 8 awards, including first and second place awards for reporting. The archdiocese’s Catholic Directory also won an “Honorable Mention” in the CMA Book Awards.

Angelus

First Place

Best Illustration with Graphic Design or Art: "The Next Four Years: A Catholic Vision for America" by Jacob Popcak

Best Regular Column - Arts, Leisure, Culture and Food: "The Crux" by Heather King

Best Essay - Diocesan Magazines: "The victims of our progress" by Elise Italiano Ureneck

Personality Profiles - Laity: "Kobe the Catholic" by Tom Hoffarth and Steve Lowery

Best Sports Reporting: "Kobe the Catholic" by Tom Hoffarth and Steve Lowery, "Embodying Kobe" by Tom Hoffarth, "SoCal bishops reflect on Kobe Bryant's Catholic faith during Rome visit" by Pablo Kay

Best Review: "Flannery O’Connor’s moral drama" by Nick Ripatrazone

Second Place

Best Coverage – Racial Inequities: "Conversations and conversion" by Sophia Martinson, "The ultimate scapegoat" by Heather King, "George Floyd and us" by Archbishop José H. Gomez, "My K Street epiphany" by Andrew Rivas, "‘It should not be this way’" by Pablo Kay

Best Feature Article - Diocesan Magazines: "Evangelizing past the likes" by Ann Rodgers

Best Reporting on Catholic Education: "Marymount senior’s free tutoring program helps students during pandemic" by Christa Chavez

Best Photograph – Holy Days/Liturgical Seasons: "Signs of new hope: Why we need this year’s very different Advent" by David Amador Rivera

Best Photograph – Immigration/Migration: "Hope Comes Home: Inside the Local Catholic Effort to Reunite A Family" by John McCoy

Third Place

Best Electronic Newsletter: "Always Forward" by Angelus Staff

Best Coverage – 2020 Election: "Our mission is bigger than politics" by Archbishop José H. Gomez, "Beyond the ballot box" by Montse Alvarado, Dylan Corbett, Helen Alvaré, Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, Louis Brown, Michael Vacca, Rosanne Haggerty, and Patrick T. Brown, "No lasting city" by Archbishop José H. Gomez, "Resist or reach out?" by Elise Italiano Ureneck, "The homeless Catholic voter" by Greg Erlandson

Best Essay - Diocesan Magazines: "An American president’s ‘quiet rebellion" by John J. Miller

Honorable Mention

Editor of the Year (English): Pablo Kay

Best Coverage – Pandemic: "Conversion in a time of coronavirus" by Elizabeth Lev, Thomas D. Williams, and Mike Aquilina, "No-touch tenderness" by R.W. Dellinger, "Sacrificing for smiles" by Hayley Smith, "Providence in a pandemic" by Caitlin Yoshiko Kandil, "Rescuing 2020" by Pablo Kay, Msgr. James Gehl, Alison Nastasi, Patty Breen, Cardinal George Pell, T.J. Berden, Father Patrick Mary Briscoe, OP, Elise Italiano Ureneck, and Greg Erlandson

Best Essay - Diocesan Magazines: "Changes within reach" by Elise Italiano Ureneck

Best Feature Article - Diocesan Magazines: "Picking up the mantle" by by Ann Rodgers

Best Reporting of the Celebration of a Sacrament: "In sickness and in health" by Sophia Martinson, "An air of hope" by Christa Chavez, "Pulverizing sins" by Father Bernard Mulcahy, OP, PH.D.

Best Special Issue: "Be not afraid! John Paul II at 100" by Angelus Staff

Diocesan Directory: "2020-2021 Catholic Directory of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles" by Angelus Staff

Vida Nueva

First Place

Best Personality Profile: "Lecciones que aprendí de mi padre César Chávez" by Paul F. Chávez

Best Reporting on Social Justice Issues - Option for the Poor and Vulnerable: "Qué patrocinar a un niño apresado" by Alicia Morandi

Second Place

Best Reporting on Social Justice Issues - Call to Family, Community and Participation: "Familias en duelo que perdonan" by R.W. Dellinger

Best Multiple Picture Package – Feature: "Más de 30 mil participan en caminata pro-vida en Los Ángeles" by Victor Alemán

Best Photo Story – Feature: "Acontecimientos del Congreso de 2020" by Victor Alemán

Third Place

Best Reporting on Social Justice Issues - Life and Dignity of the Human Person: "Una familia con una historia que contar" by Pilar Marrero

Best Photograph – Color: "Situaciones" by Victor Alemán

Honorable Mention

Spanish Publication of the Year: Vida Nueva