Honoring Excellence in California Public Education Media Coverage
Named after the founder of CTA and the state’s fourth superintendent of public instruction, the John Swett Awards for Media Excellence are CTA’s highest honor for media professionals for outstanding coverage of education.
John Swett founded CTA in 1863 and elevated the teaching profession as he served as California’s fourth superintendent of public instruction. For the first time, public schools became free for all to attend during his four-year term. He raised the bar, and this contest bears his name because all entries must show the kind of commitment to professionalism he gave during his life of advocacy for all educators and students.
Background & Goals
The John Swett Awards honors CTA’s advocacy for public schools, students and educators. Newspaper, radio and television editors, reporters, producers, directors and bloggers are all encouraged to enter.
The awards celebrate outstanding coverage of community and campaign issues that have impacted California’s public schools and community colleges during the year. Thanks to CTA members interacting with the media, vital school issues make it from the classroom to the newsroom, allowing the public and its elected representatives to make informed decisions about quality education and its future. This unique competition requires local chapters of CTA to nominate works by media professionals for the contest.
Judging is done by media peers — CTA removes itself entirely from the judging process.
Winners are awarded plaques at a special Los Angeles reception in their honor. Meritorious nominees whose work was not judged the most outstanding in their categories receive Certificates of Merit.
The Nomination Process
Nominations may be made by any CTA chapter president (local affiliate) or Service Center Council chairperson. Media representatives cannot nominate themselves or their colleagues. They are, however, encouraged to make inquiries about the possibility of nominations — either by contacting local CTA chapters or Christina Barbieri at cbarbieri@cta.org.
Local CTA chapters are urged to monitor the media in their areas, to collect samples of good journalism or make note of unusually good or thorough coverage, and to recommend that their local presidents complete and forward nomination forms.
All entries and exhibits will be obtained from nominees by the local nominating CTA chapter and forwarded to the CTA Communications Department with the nomination form online.
The Judging of Nominees
Entries are judged by panels of independent media professionals outside of CTA. Past John Swett Awards judges have included publishers, editors, and reporters from newspapers, journals, magazines, and wire services, as well as people in every aspect of radio and television broadcasting. CTA removes itself entirely from the judging process, an impartiality that has added to the growing prestige of the competition within the print and broadcast communities. Judges base their decisions on their own professional expertise and experience. Their decisions are final.
Publications: Online or Print
(Nominees compete as individuals or publications in one of the following classifications)
- Metropolitan Daily (more than 100,000 circulation)
- Community Daily (less than 100,000 circulation)
- Weekly or Semi-Weekly
- Journals, Magazines and other Publications
(Contributions by Individuals)
- Continuous Coverage of schools and education issues
- Feature Story
- News Story
- Series on a Single Subject/Theme
- Column or Blog
(Contributions by Publications)
- Continuous Coverage of educational news that increases public understanding of school achievements, problems and programs
- Editorial(s) interpreting school achievements, issues, and needs to the public
- Series on a Single Subject/Theme
Supporting documents shall consist of a link to the online article or a PDF of the publication on which the story appeared. The date of publication must be visible.
We encourage newspapers to be selective in the materials to be submitted. Excellence of interpretive reporting of school programs, educational issues, and student and faculty achievements are given greatest consideration.
The same entries cannot be submitted in more than one category.
Electronic Media
(Nominees compete as individuals or stations in one of the following categories)
- Television
- Online Video
- Radio
- Podcast
(Contributions by Individuals)
- Locally Produced Program or Series interpreting school programs or educational issues. (A series is defined as a regularly scheduled program that airs daily/weekly or monthly and covers one or more topics.)
- Talk Shows/News Program
- News Story
- Feature
- Continuous Coverage of schools and educational issues
(Contributions by Stations)
- Continuous Coverage of educational news that increases public understanding of school achievements, problems and programs
- Editorial(s) interpreting school achievements, issues, and needs to the public
- Series on a Single Subject/Theme
Supporting Documents shall consist of audio recordings accompanied by a script or summary of the entry. If the nomination is in the category of continuous coverage, the presentation must include a written summary and samples of the programs highlighting the station’s continuous coverage.
Submit all work as aired, or posted online. The same entries cannot be submitted in more than one category.
Student Journalism
- K-12
- Higher Education
(Nominees compete as individuals or groups in one of the following categories)
- Student Newspaper
- Student Magazine
- Student Television
- Student Online Video
- Student Radio
- Student Podcast
Supporting documents shall consist of a link to the online article or a PDF of the publication on which the story appeared. The date of publication must be visible.
We encourage newspapers to be selective in the materials to be submitted. Excellence of interpretive reporting of school programs, educational issues, and student and faculty achievements are given greatest consideration.
Electronic media shall consist of audio recordings accompanied by a script or summary of the entry and submit as aired or posted online.
The same entries cannot be submitted in more than one category.
Newspapers
Contribution by an Individual Based on Continuous Coverage of Educational News
- Hillary Ojeda, Lookout Santa Cruz
Winning entries can be found here.
Contribution by an Individual for a Feature Story
- Jonathan Horwitz, The Desert Sun “Dual Language Immersion Programs Aim to Foster Bilingualism, Multiculturally Competent Leaders”
Contribution by an Individual for a News Story
- Lasherica Thornton, The Fresno Bee, “Clovis Teachers Trying to Unionize Blame Anti-Union Sentiment for Missed Deadline”
Contribution by a Publication Based on Continuous Coverage of Educational News
- San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Winning entries can be found here.
Contribution by an Individual for a Column or Blog
- Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, “This Teachers’ Strike Is Not Just About Money. It’s About Respect for Public Education”
Contribution by an Individual Based on Continuous Coverage of Educational News
- Ariane Lange, The Sacramento Bee
Winning entries can be found here.
Contribution by an Individual for an Editorial
- Hannah Holzer, The Sacramento Bee, “A Neutral Analyst Sided With Striking Teachers Over Sacramento Schools. He Was Right”
Contribution by an Individual for a Feature Story
- Paloma Esquivel, Los Angeles Times, “Students Wait Months for Mental Health Help. ‘We’re Bombarded,’ Counselor Says”
Contribution by Individuals for a News Story
Contribution by an Individual for a News Story
- Megan Michelson, Moonshine Ink, “How the Current School Board Election Became a Battleground”
Journals, Magazines, Special Publications and Websites
Contribution by an Individual for a Column or Blog
- Diana Lambert, EdSource, “Covid Challenges, Bad Student Behavior Push Teachers to Limit, Out the Door”
Contribution by an Individual Based on Continuous Coverage of Educational News
- Cara Nixon, Richmond Confidential
Winning pieces included this piece and this piece.
Contribution by an Individual for a Feature Story
- Gail Cornwall, The Hechinger Report / The Guardian, “A School Created a Homeless Shelter in the Gym and It Paid off in the Classroom”
- Jakob McWhinney, Voice of San Diego, “High Tech High’s Union Negotiations Have Reached an Impasse”
- Robin Urevich, Capital & Main, “South Los Angeles Parents Say Charter Schools Usurp Campus Resources”
Contribution by an Individual for a News Story
