Over 50 people gathered virtually Dec. 3, 2021 as The California Press Foundation hosted its 144th Annual Winter Meeting. This was the second year in a row the COVID-19 pandemic prevented an in-person gathering for the yearly meeting, which is traditionally staged the first week of December in San Francisco.
During the meeting, members and guests learned about the careers of former college students who had been supported with Cal Press internship grants. Linda S. Bowen, a Cal Press director, led the panel discussion that featured these former interns: Adam Ashton, who is now at The Sacramento Bee; Brianna Callix, who now works at The Fresno Bee; Melody Gutierrez, who is now at the Los Angeles Times; and Ben Mullin, who now works at The Wall Street Journal.
If you missed the discussion, we’ve posted the segment to our YouTube Channel, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNGbKYWLgxQ&t=13s
Cal Press then presented its 2021 annual awards for exemplary service to current, former and legendary California news executives.
Craig Harrington, publisher of The Intermountain News in Burney, Shasta County, received the Justus F. Craemer Newspaper Executive of the Year award. Craemer Award recipients are publishers, editors-in-chief and equivalents who have involved themselves in the directions of the editorial and news side of their newspapers by showing exceptional editorial achievement. Their newspaper has made an impact on its community or influenced local, state, or national concerns because of their journalistic effort. Harrington is the 56th recipient of the award, which began in 1967.
Cal Press’ Philip N. McCombs Achievement Award for lifetime service was presented to Michael Giangreco, a former publisher in the Bay Area, Auburn, Napa and Sonoma. The award honors distinguished publishers who are no longer fully active in the industry but who have served their communities well for an extended period and have made lasting contributions to the industry and its traditions. Cal Press has presented the McCombs Achievement Award since 1989.
The Mark Twain Award for Journalism Excellence in California honored the late John Carroll, who was a former executive editor of the Los Angeles Times. This award honors those from the writerly world: editors, writers, cartoonists whose journalistic work, either regional or statewide in nature, challenged the status quo. Nominees may have rendered service anytime from the beginning of newspapering in California to the present time. Cal Press has presented the Mark Twain Award since 2010.
There were two inductions into the California Newspaper Hall of Fame during the meeting: Allen P. McCombs and Charles Hastings Deuel. The Hall of Fame inducts two people each year: one who has died within the past decade and one who passed more than a decade ago. The Hall of Fame inductions began in 1957.
McCombs (1929-2021) was the owner of Champion Newspapers in Chino from 1956 to 2017 and was its publisher until 2006.
Deuel (1868-1947) was editor and publisher of the Chico Record (now the Chico Enterprise-Record) from 1897 until 1945.
The Jack Bates Award for Distinguished Service to the California Press was presented to Joe Wirt, director of affiliate relations at CNPA Services, Inc. Previous honorees have included media-law attorneys, lobbyists, educators, and news company executives. Cal Press has presented the Jack Bates Award since 2007.
