ARCHDIOCESE PUBLICATIONS WON 18 AWARDS AT 2020 CATHOLIC MEDIA CONFERENCE, INCLUDING BEST WEBSITE, MAGAZINE OR NEWSLETTER
July 10, 2020  |  By:   |  Press Releases  |  

— Since it was launched in 2016, Angelus News has been recognized by the Catholic Press Association for having some of the best columnists in the Church, including Archbishop Gomez, author of the column “New World of Faith”—

Angelus, the official magazine of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, won 11 awards at the Catholic Press Association’s 2020 Catholic Media Conference, which was held virtually this year on June 30-July 2, due to the pandemic. Spanish-language Archdiocesan monthly newspaper Vida Nueva received seven awards. Both publications were recognized for high quality reporting, analysis and photojournalism, on social justice issues and religious liberty.

AngelusNews.com, the multimedia and digital platform launched four years ago and redesigned in September 2019, won First Place in the category of Best Website —Magazine or Newsletter.

“The broad scope of categories Angelus and Vida Nueva received awards in represents a welcome tribute to the talented team of Catholic journalists behind Angelus and Vida Nueva,” said Pablo Kay, editor-in-chief of Angelus News.

“In addition to the well-deserved recognition of the hard work of our columnists, writers, and editors, this year I am particularly honored by the First Place ‘Best Website’ award for our redesigned website, the fruit of an intense yearlong project.”

Angelus replaced the former Archdiocese’s centenarian newspaper The Tidings in July 2016, taking to heart the motto of Saint Junípero Serra, the founder of the first nine of the 21 missions of California, “Always forward, never back.” In addition to AngelusNews.com, it includes a biweekly magazine with analysis of events and trends shaping the Church and our society, reflections and advice by renown Catholic writers and quality journalism covering the local Catholic community, and the award-winning daily email newsletter Always Forward.

Angelus received other five first places, including one for best regular column for Archbishop José H. Gomez’s weekly column “New World of Faith,” one for “The Crux,” a weekly column by Heather King, under the category of Best Column — arts, leisure, culture and food, and best reporting for social justice issues, solidarity for the story, “Evil did not win: Community honors slain 9-year-old Trinity Love Jones,” by Tom Hoffarth.

The competition included Catholic publications from across the U.S. and Canada, and recognized work done in 2019.

Other 2020 Angelus’ first places included the column “With Grace,” by Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie, for best regular column —family life, and best essay in diocesan magazines, “A chosen instrument: The Catholic vocation of J.R.R. Tolkien,” by Giuseppe Pezzini.

Second places included best coverage of religious liberty issues for “California confession bill would end centuries-old privacy protections,” by Pablo Kay, Angelus’ editor-in-chief; “Few facts, a lot of fiction behind effort to remove El Camino Real mission bells,” by Gregory Orfalea; and “Who invented religious freedom?,” by Mike Aquilina. Reporter Caitlin Yoshiko Kandil received a second place for best reporting of social justice issues, option for the poor and vulnerable, with the story, “A refuge for the homeless.” Sophia Martinson earned second place for best review, “Waking up from the quantum pipe dream,” and an honorable mention for the story, “Fighting the good fight: The battle for purity in the digital age.”

Angelus received a third place award in best illustration with graphic design or art for designer Jacob Popcak’s cover illustration “The beauty of the bells.” The Archdiocese’s Los Angeles Catholic Directory won an honorable mention.

Victor Aleman, Angelus’ photographer and Vida Nueva’s editor and photographer, took first places for Vida Nueva’s best photograph, general news photo, for the story “Primer aniversario del ‘Santo de América’,” best photograph portrait for “César Chávez: Su fe, familia y filosofía de vida,”, and best photograph color, for “Niña vendedora de Guatemala.” He got a second place for “Niños con una misión,” best photograph, Catholic education.

The Spanish-language newspaper earned a third place for best cover, “Panamá abraza a la juventud del mundo,” and an Honorable mention as the Spanish publication of the year.

“For the past 30 years, Vida Nueva has sought to strengthen the Catholic faith in our editorial content,” said Victor Aleman, editor of Vida Nueva. “It has provided information regarding education, job opportunities, community resources, healthcare information, especially for the uninsured, political and social changes affecting the community, immigration issues and workers’ rights. I feel deeply fortunate to have been working as an editor for all these decades, and I keep praying to God and to Our Lady of Guadalupe that we may continue to be inspired, motivated and at the forefront of this medium to keep informing our Catholic community in our city.”

In total, Angelus was awarded six first place, three second place, one third place, and one honorable mention. Vida Nueva won three first place, two second place, one third place award, and one honorable mention. The Catholic Directory of the Archdiocese won an honorable mention.

About Angelus

The Archdiocese began publishing Angelus in July 2016, replacing The Tidings, which had been the Archdiocesan publication since 1895. Angelus is the weekly print “home” for Crux, led by renowned Vatican reporter, John Allen and his colleague, Inés San Martín, one of the top writers on the Church in Latin America. It includes voices like Kathryn Lopez (National Review, Wall Street Journal), Grazie Pozo Christie (CNN, Miami Herald, New York Times, USA Today), and Mike Aquilina (national speaker and author of more than 50 books on Catholic themes). Best-selling Catholic author, Dr. Scott Hahn, writes a weekly Scripture column. These voices complement key contributors like Archbishop Gomez, Father Ronald Rolheiser and Heather King. For more information, visit AngelusNews.com, facebook.com/AngelusNews, twitter.com/AngelusNews and instagram.com/AngelusNews.

About Vida Nueva

Vida Nueva began publishing in 1991. The publication routinely wins national awards, including the 2015 Best Spanish-Language Monthly Newspaper in the U.S. from the National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP). The same organization honored Vida Nueva with a first place as the best Spanish-language weekly in 2001, when the newspaper had a weekly release; six first place honors as a bimonthly Spanish-language publication in the 1990s, when Vida Nueva ran as a bimonthly publication, and three four place honors since it became a monthly publication (2003, 2011, 2014 and 2015). For more information, visit Vida-Nueva.com, or facebook.com/losangelesVidaNueva.

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