The Valley Voice and other local publications, including the Sun-Gazette and Visalia Times-Delta, were awarded honors in the 2025 California Journalism Awards, an annual compitition held by the California News Publishers Association (CNPA.)
Judges looked at articles written and submitted by California news outlets and evaluated them on criteria that varied by category — including categories for writing, photography, and commentary — with entries separated based on each outlet’s size.
The Voice competed in Division 7, covering weekly newspapers with a print circulation of 4,300 or less and/or outlets with 199,000 or less monthly unique visitors online. Voice writers received three awards:
- Dave Adalian received first place in the Health Reporting category for his coverage of a Kaweah Health whistleblower who said he was fired for revealing the truth about what led to a 60-year-old patient’s death, and the aftermath from that, including a lawsuit by the patient’s family against Kaweah Health and the potential loss of nursing licenses for the two nurses involved;
- Catherine Doe and Tony Maldonado were awarded third place in the Coverage of Local Government category for a package of coverage surrounding the Tulare County Board of Supeervisors having to take over the Tulare Public Cemetery district, including video and coverage of a ten-second meeting at the cemetery district office in May 2025 that prompted the take over by the Supervisors.
- Dave Adalian was awarded fourth place in In-Depth Reporting for his coverage of Springville residents’ troubles with their water utility company, Del Oro Water.
“Every year our small but fierce team is recognized with multiple awards from CNPA. But its not the awards that matter, said Catherine Doe, editor of the Valley Voice. What matters is that those in power know we are watching and that we will report the truth so the public can make informed decisions and be an informed electorate.”
Other local outlets received awards:
- The Visalia Times-Delta received three third place awards for Feature Photo, Feature Story, and Social Justice & Civic Engagement; one fourth place award for Feature Story; and two fifth place awards for Artistic Photo and Coverage of Business and the Economy.
- The Sun-Gazette received three first place awards in Audience/Community Engagement, Excellence in Collaborations and Partnerships, and Labor Reporting; four second place awards in Agricultural Reporting, Columns, Community Focus, and Public Service Journalism; two third place awards in Enterprise News Story or Series and Social Justice & Civic Engagement; one fourth place award in Transportation Reporting; and two fifth place awards for Coverage of Business and the Economy and Food Writing/Reporting
- The Mid Valley Times received two first place awards in Coverage of Local Government and Profile Story; three second place awards in Religion/Faith Writing, Sports Feature Story, and Transportation Reporting; two third place awards in Agricultural Reporting and Immigration Reporting; two fourth place awards in Coverage of Business and the Economy and Coverage of Youth and Education; and one fifth place award in Feature Story.
- The Collegian at Fresno State received one first place award for Sports Action Photo; two second place awards for News Photo and Writing; one third place award for Online General Excellence; one fourth place award for General Excellence; and one fifth place award for Coverage of Student Government/Campus Administration.