Up-and-coming journalists came together to network, discuss the industry and share their work in Long Beach from Thursday, March 6, to Saturday, March 8.
Pierce College’s Media Arts department members attended the 2025 Spring National College Media three-day conference in Long Beach to meet advisors and other collegiate journalists across the nation.
The Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) held its spring conference on Thursday, March 6, through Saturday, March 8. Attendees from all across California and over the nation came to attend. The ACP works with two California collegiate-media organizations, the California College Media Association (CCMA) and the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC).
The JACC sponsors three Publication Awards, which honor work that a student has published throughout the year, and three On-The-Spot Awards that commemorate the work completed during the conference. This includes work that was done with deadline circumstances or “bring in” from weeks prior to the conference.
Photography major Abraham Elizalde won first place in the JACC’s sports photo On-The-Spot Award. Elizalde talked about how it felt winning the award and his experience at the conference.
“Being able to place first at my first contest, it was a surreal experience,” Elizalde said. “I was able to network with a bunch of different editors, reporters and photographers from schools across California.”
During this conference, there were more than 160 panels and round tables focused on attendees’ works and how they can improve. Attendees also explored different ways to increase their audience engagement with readers and listeners, as well as reexamine some of their practices.
Journalism major Delilah Brumer got the opportunity to speak at two panels during the conference and won multiple awards including first place in the CCMA’s non-breaking, news story category. Brumer expands on her feelings being on the panels and the topics she discussed.
“One of them was about localizing the state-wide high education policy for your college paper, the other one was about internships and fellowships,” Brumer said. “I was a little bit nervous because it’s speaking in front of a lot of people but I was really excited to share my experiences covering higher education.”
Journalism major Gerardo Escobar won first place for the Spanish-Language Coverage Award. Escobar talked about the excitement he felt receiving this award.
“It was really cool to win the best coverage for the Spanish-Language Coverage Award, I think it was the first time we entered and we got first place,” Escobar said. “Seeing that I was the one who got first place felt pretty good.”
