Two J-School Students Awarded the John Swett Award for Excellence in Media Coverage

Two UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism students were awarded the John Swett Award for Excellence in Media Coverage by the California Teachers Association for their coverage of education issues.

Chelsi Moy, a second-year multimedia student, was honored for a Mission Local story highlighting the bleak future for San Francisco’s Mission District neighborhood schools if the governor’s Proposition 30 tax hike for the wealthy had failed to pass in November.

Lisette Mejia (’12) alum, was honored for her Mission Local series about how the $45 million from a federal School Improvement Grant helped six public schools in San Francisco’s Mission District neighborhood improve with targeted intervention reforms.

Nineteen winners in the CTA awards contest were chosen by an independent panel of media professionals. The awards honor individuals, publications, websites, television and radio stations for their outstanding achievements in reporting and interpreting public education issues during 2012.

There were 74 nominations this year from across the state. The winners received their awards during a reception in their honor at the CTA State Council of Education meeting in Los Angeles in June. The award is named in honor of the founder of the CTA, who was California’s fourth superintendent of public instruction. This year’s awards come as CTA celebrates its 150th anniversary.