The Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) held its regional conference on Oct. 11-12 at California State University, Fullerton. Journalism students from all over Southern California participated in on-the-spot competitions, submitted previously published works for awards and were informed by numerous speakers.

JACC is a a non-profit educational corporation dedicated to community college journalism. It is run by an elected board of directors who represent both students and faculty from around the state.

“Students can benefit from JACC in several ways,” said City Times adviser Aida Bustos via email. “They can compete against their counterparts elsewhere in Southern California and they can learn in the workshops and from other students at the conferences.”

Highlighting one important benefit, Bustos added, “Students can list a JACC award in their resumes, which can give them a boost.”

City College participants took home 10 awards from this year’s conference.

Troy Orem and Mariel Mostacero won first place for Best Front Page Design. Current City Times Editor-in-Chief, Allison Browne, and staff alumni, J. Rae Chipera, received second place awards for Best Inside Page Design and Troy Orem also took second place in Best News Photo.

“The JACC awards City Times staff members received last week are just the latest in a long history of awards the newspaper and its staff members have won,” Bustos explained.

Andrew Hahn came in third place for Critical Review. Adam Baird won fourth place for Best Editorial Cartoon and Best Illustration. Baird, current staffer Ryan Johnson, and alumni, Amanda Rhodes, also received various honorable mentions.

“It felt like confirmation that I’m doing something right,” expressed Browne.

Some believe journalism is a dying field, but this conference was an opportunity for participants to show off their many skills and prove that indeed, journalism is thriving.

For those who wish to study further in the field of journalism and find out about upcoming events, information is available at the JACC website jacconline.org.