San José Spotlight has won five California Journalism Awards — including two first place wins.
The annual competition, sponsored by the California News Publishers Association, showcases the best print and digital reporting and photography statewide. Both print and digital news organizations compete in divisions based on size and circulation. San José Spotlight competed in a division for publications with a circulation of 200,000 to 299,000 unique monthly visitors.
“This statewide recognition further validates the importance of local journalism, and the work we do to hold power to account and give voice to those who are marginalized,” Moryt Milo, editor at San José Spotlight, said. “It’s an honor to work with such a dedicated team who consistently strives to keep residents informed about what’s happening in their local cities and countywide.”
San José Spotlight placed first in the Investigative Journalism category for its reporting on disgraced former San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres, who pleaded “no contest” to child sex abuse charges in April.
A criminal investigation into Torres first surfaced last October, when police detained and released him after confiscating his electronic devices and searching his home and car. A week later, a police affidavit revealed he sent lewd texts about minors with a Chicago man allegedly extorting him. Torres dismissed the texts as role-play and fantasy. But the affidavit prompted a relative to come forward to police with new allegations that Torres molested him when the relative was underage in the 1990s.
Police listened in on a phone call in November between Torres and the relative, which ultimately led to Torres’ arrest on Nov. 5, 2024 just hours after he resigned from his District 3 seat on the San Jose City Council.
This news organization first reported that multiple councilmembers’ offices were contacted about allegations against Torres at least a year before the investigation went public in October 2024. The scandal kicked off a political firestorm where Torres maintained his innocence while dodging all public appearances and refusing to let go of his seat in the process. His effort to stay in office fueled weeks of debate over how councilmembers could remove him, allegations of a City Hall cover up and employee unrest.
Torres faces a maximum 24 years in jail and has to register as a sex offender with the state. Police are still investigating the lewd texts Torres sent.
San José Spotlight also took home a first place award in Election Reporting for its work covering the 2024 election cycle. This newsroom created powerful visuals to track money in local races, published in-depth explainers on how to vote, provided up-to-the-minute live election coverage and results and informed voters about who was on their ballot — especially in a highly-anticipated congressional race for Silicon Valley’s first open seat in two decades.
The newsroom won three other awards in the annual contest. It placed second and fourth in the Homelessness Reporting category for reporting on vulnerable residents living in filthy homes and the region’s problems with helping homeless people during heat waves, and won third place in the Election Reporting category for its work showing how a Silicon Valley congressional candidate had ties to a fake newspaper.
Contact Nick Preciado at [email protected].
