At the 42th annual Greater Bay Area Journalism Awards hosted by the San Francisco Press Club on Nov.7, El Tecolote—the Bay Area’s premier Latino bilingual community newspaper—took home an impressive 15 awards. Judges from the press clubs of Milwaukee, New Orleans, San Diego and Cleveland evaluated the work of more than 100 journalists in digital media, blogs, newspaper, magazine/trade publications and radio.

Competing in the category of “non-daily newspapers,” El Tecolote did exceptionally well in the photography. For Photography/Feature, Beth LaBerge placed first for her portrait of the late René Yáñez. Alejandro Galicia Diaz likewise placed first in Photography/News for his photo of Gwen Woods, mother of Mario Woods, after she received the news that no charges were going to be filed against the police who killed her son. Gino Abrajano also took first place in Photography/Photo Series for his work on “Quinceañera, Rite of Passage,” and El Tecolote photographers Adelyna Tirado and Amarah Hernandez placed second for their photo essay, “Indigenous People’s Sunrise Gathering at Alcatraz Island.”

(From left to right) Alejandro Galicia Diaz, Alexis Terrazas, Amanda Peterson, and Adelyna Tirado pose for a portrait at the 2019 San Francisco Press Club Awards Ceremony on Nov. 7, 2019. Photo: Rachel Sebero

For Blog/Commentary, Jessika Karlsson placed first for “My mother missed my graduation thanks Trump,” and El Tecolote’s staff placed for “Our parents, the original Dreamers, deserve protections too.” For News/Political Columns, Carlos Barón placed first for “The Devil’s Advocate,” and Nestor Castillo placed third for “Centrospective.”

In Editorial Cartoon, Valeria Olguín took first place for “Tamale Lady,” and long time Teco cartoonist Gustavo Reyes placed second for “Immigrants fight for the American Dream.” For Entertainment Review, El Tecolote Editor-in-Chief  Alexis Terrazas placed second for “One Down: Filipina MCs unite, slay colonial patriarchy on track.”

For Front Page Design, artist Jessica Sabogal placed first with “Somos Perfectas.” And in Profile, former Teco intern Destiny Arroyo placed first for, “René Yáñez reflects on five decades of being an artist in the Mission,” and former intern Amanda Peterson placed second for “Graffiti artist Girl Mobb trains next generation of female street artists.” And finally in Sports Feature, former intern Maria Puras Arauzo placed first for “In this corner: Mission nurse finds home in world of professional fighting.”

For a complete list of awards, please visit: https://sfpressclub.org/2019/11/08/2019-dinner-award-winners/