El Leñador Editor Wins Society of Professional Journalists’ Award
Editor-In-Chief of El Leñador, Carlos Holguin, won a Mark of Excellence award from the Society of Professional Journalists for best general news reporting on March 25.
The award was for Holguin’s news series on the investigation of HSU Police Chief Donn Peterson, which was published in El Leñador in 2019.
The SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards are presented annually, honoring exceptional student journalism around the country. The awards are first given on a regional level, where winners then advance to the national competition.
Holguin’s award automatically enters him into the SPJ national competition, where he competes against 11 other regional award winners.
“I am incredibly honored to receive this award,” Holguin said. “I joined El Leñador to help make a difference in the community, and moments like this only reaffirm that I am doing the right thing.”
Holguin served as El Leñador’s news editor in the fall 2019 semester before taking on the role of editor-in-chief this spring. He transferred to HSU from Cerritos Community College in Norwalk, California, where he earned his associate degree in journalism and wrote for the school’s newspaper, Talon Marks, for four semesters.
In February, El Leñador also took home a dozen awards from the California College Media Association statewide awards competition, including third place for best newspaper in the state; first place for Best Non-Breaking News story, Best Front Page Design, and Best Inside Page/Spread Design.
