San Diego SPJ is kicking off its annual journalism contest a little early this year. We figured your best stories from 2022 will be fresh in your mind and we’re excited to introduce some new awards categories. The official contest launch date is Monday, Jan. 30. We’ll accept submissions through Monday, Feb. 27. Early bird pricing will be available through Monday, Feb. 20, and regular entry pricing takes effect on Tuesday, Feb. 21.

Here’s all the information you need to enter:

How to enter
Contest guidelines
Contest FAQ

Stay tuned for more details later this month. We’ll announce the contest launch here on our website, via email and on social media — including a link to the contest website — so keep an eye out.

Students: Please note that we are not launching our scholarship contest on Jan. 30. It will kick off at a later date, to be announced.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email spjsandiego@gmail.com.

Join San Diego SPJ, the San Diego Association of Black Journalists and the San Diego Press Club for a fun holiday mixer!

When: Wednesday, Dec. 7 from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Where: The Church by The Lost Abbey, 1313 J St. in East Village

The space is mostly outdoors, so we recommend bringing a sweater. We’ll provide pizza and dessert. Drinks are available for purchase at the bar. Street parking is available, or you can park in the Padres’ Tailgate Park parking lot.

Please RSVP by Monday, Dec. 5.

In addition to being honored with two Society of Professional Journalists’ Circle of Excellence Awards for our work on newsroom diversity and First Amendment advocacy, San Diego SPJ was thrilled to receive the Large Chapter of the Year award at SPJ’s 2022 annual conference. Board members Bella Ross and Jakob McWhinney accepted the award on our behalf.

Judges noted SD-SPJs newsroom diversity survey, describing it as “a challenging feat to accomplish because some newsrooms wanted to refrain from participating” and the chapter’s work on open government issues, including board members’ meeting with staff from the San Diego mayor’s office regarding the city’s email retention policy. That advocacy work that led to the city implementing the longest email-retention policy in the state. Also mentioned was SD-SPJ’s new mentorship program (keep an eye on this space for the program’s second round) and the continuation of our annual Wall, Window and Sunshine awards, among other chapter activities.

SD-SPJ wants to thank our members for their continued support. Y’all are the best! Not a member? Join here.

_{Los Angeles Times photojournalist Marcus Yam}

On Saturday, Oct. 15, the San Diego Union-Tribune will hold its inaugural Festival of Journalism. The daylong event (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) will feature keynote speakers, panel discussions on headline topics and a screening of the documentary “Journalism at Risk.”

Keynote speakers:

• Steve Sebelius, politics editor and columnist at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, who’ll discuss the legacy of his former colleague, Jeff German. German was killed last month by a public official he was investigating.
• Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Marcus Yam, one of the last western journalists to leave Afghanistan after the country fell to the Taliban, will share stories about what it’s like on the frontlines of conflict.
• Justin Brooks, director and co-founder of the California Innocence Project, will talk about how biases and misinformation can cost people their freedom and, in some cases, their lives.

Panels topics include the 101 Ash St. debacle, the high rate of deaths in San Diego jails, the gang rape accusations involving SDSU football players and firsthand accounts from journalists working in Tijuana.

The event is free and open to the public. It will be held in the Tula Community Center at San Diego State University (6126 Montezuma Road).

Check out the full schedule and register to attend. We’ll see you there!