Riverside City College student press takes top honors at JACC regional
Editor-in-Chief Chelsea Sugimura won first place in opinion writing, and the team presented a session on its local election town hall.
By Giulia Donovan ·
Chelsea Sugimura, the editor-in-chief of Viewpoints at Riverside City College, won first place in the opinion writing competition at the Journalism Association for Community Colleges SoCal Fall Regional Conference. The annual event took place on Oct. 10 at California State University, Northridge, and recognizes student journalists from two-year institutions across the region.
Sugimura and managing editor Marissa Lievanos both placed in the on-the-spot writing contests. Lievanos earned second place in the news writing category. The awards recognize work completed during the 2025-26 academic year.
Viewpoints staff also led a discussion session for conference attendees, a first for the publication in recent years. The session outlined the production plan for the Local Election and Voter Ed Town Hall held on Oct. 14 in the Bradshaw Cafeteria. The town hall featured local candidates discussing policy priorities ahead of the Nov. 3 general election and reflecting on the June primary.
The publication received the Online General Excellence Award, Meritorious, for its digital site and the Newspaper General Excellence Award, Meritorious, for its print edition. These are among the highest honors presented by the JACC.
Individual students secured multiple placements in visual and written categories. Brylle Deseo won first place in both Editorial Cartoon and Illustration. Tara Bristow, a former student, earned first place in Inside Page Layout and second place in Photo Illustration. Lennon Alvarez won first place in Opinion Story, while Aaron Friesen placed second in News Story.
Angela Burrell, the journalism instructor and Viewpoints adviser, said the students keep raising the bar. She noted their hunger to learn and step outside their comfort zone to try new things.
The conference provided staff with practice in deadline writing and still photography. They also received career advice from professionals at outlets including the Los Angeles Times, NBC 4/Telemundo 52, ABC 7, CBS LA, KNX-AM 1070, LAist/KPCC-FM, LA Taco, SoCal News, and USA Today.
