California State University, Northridge’s student newspaper, The Daily Sundial, was selected as best college newspaper, beating LA City College’s newspaper and the Daily Bruin at UCLA, during last month’s Los Angeles Press Club banquet. The paper also received three first-place awards, one second-place award and two third-place awards.

The first-place awards were for photography by Loren Townsley, writing by Melody Cherchian and for best over all college newspaper for the Sundial’s piece “20 years after the Riots.”

Judges noted: “Townsley’s photo captured what every professional news photographer both prays for and, just a little bit, also hopes not to see –real tears. Her framing of the beautiful young student who has just learned her soccer team has been eliminated tells all the drama and news in a single shot.”

According to the judges, the Daily Sundial is “the class of Southern California student journalism. The paper –as exemplified by the staff’s ‘20-years after the LA Riots’ edition- presents a sophisticated lend of content, presentation and photography. The paper is thoroughly professional by any standard.”

The paper’s second-place award was given for a piece by Christina Cocca, “Conversion Therapy Ban Challenged.” Its two third-place awards were for photography by Ken Scarboro and website design.

This caps a strong spring semester for the Sundial in which the staff won 19 awards in the California College Media Association’s annual Excellence in Student Media competition, including seven first places. Staff members garnered individual awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association and Society of Professional Journalists annual competitions.

Melissa Lalum, a CSUN journalism professor and publisher of the Sundial. said receiving these awards is a high honor.

“We compete against excellent schools, so these awards really speak to the talent of our and their work ethic,” she said. “Managing a multi-platform product day in and day out during the academic year, along with taking a full load of classes, is hard work. I am proud of their dedication and the pride they take in their work.”