March 24, 2026
SMC Corsair, Journalism Students Earn 23 National and Statewide Awards & Honors
SMC Corsair, Journalism Students Earn 23 National and Statewide Awards & Honors
Includes National Pacemaker Award from Associated Collegiate Press, One of Six California Student News Websites to Win
SANTA MONICA, CA—Santa Monica College’s (SMC) student-run media outlet The Corsair and its staff won 16 state awards this month from the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC), plus seven awards from the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP). Most awards were announced at the 2026 National College Media Conference held March 5-7, 2026 in San Francisco, while the ACP awards were announced more recently, on March 17.
The Corsair’s news website was one of six California student websites to win the highest ACP award, the Pacemaker. Other winners from California include UCLA; Loyola Marymount University; Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; California State University, Sacramento; and Las Positas College. The Corsair also won ninth place in the ACP’s Best of Show online newspaper category, competing against dozens of two-year colleges at the conference. In ACP’s Clips and Clicks contest, The Corsair ranked 10th nationally, tied with Pepperdine University’s Currents and Syracuse University’s NCC News.
Corsair news editor Kayjel J. Mairena and former Corsair photo editor Jake Crandall won first place from JACC for their visual coverage of Labor Day anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles. A U.S. Navy veteran, Mairena is the son of immigrants from Nicaragua and hopes to transfer to USC, NYUor Columbia University.
“The environment we have on campus allows us to grow,” Mairena said of the SMC student newsroom, and further stated: “Journalism is powerful—you have a voice and the ability to give that voice to people who don’t have one.”
Mairena serves as caretaker for his grandmother, and commutes to Santa Monica College from the Wilmington neighborhood near Long Beach.
The full lineup of awards won by The Corsair this March include the following:
From the Journalism Association of Community Colleges:
On-the-spot awards won for competitions held during the conference:
- Second Place: Audio News, Tim Sim and Jenna Tibby
- Honorable mention: Social Media, Kyla Downey and Jeffrey Berrios
Opinion Writing, Jacqueline Martin; Video News, Tim Sim and Jenna Tibby
- Pacesetter: Digital, Santa Monica College Corsair staff
The Corsair won 11 awards in the mail-in JACC competition, announced March 7:
- First Place: Online Photo Story Essay, Jake Crandall, Kayjel J. Mairena; Illustration, Jenna Tibby; Video Soft News Reporting, Jenna Tibby; News Photo, Jake Crandall
- Second Place: Feature Photo, Elizabeth Bacher
- Third Place: News Story, Phoebe Huss; Sports Feature Photo, Danny Sanchez; Sports Action Photo, A.S.; News Photo, Jake Crandall
- Honorable Mention: Environmental Portrait, Mary Funsten
- Meritorious: Online General Excellence, The Corsair Staff
Corsair Adviser & SMC Journalism Professor Sharyn Obsatz, Design Editor Nastassia Melendez, Assistant Photo Editor Tom Rosholt, JACC student President Gregory Hawthorne, and Corsair Journalist Christine Xolotl Muñoz on March 2026 in San Francisco, at the Associated Collegiate Press Spring 2027 Convention. (Photo Credit: Gerard Burkhart).
From the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP):
- Pacesetter: Online winner, one of 19 nationally
- Best of Show Online: Ranked #9 out of all colleges/universities at the conference
- Clips and Clicks sweepstakes ranking: 10th place nationally
- Second place: News Photo, Jake Crandall
- Honorable Mention: Feature Photo, Jordi Garcia Sosa; Feature photo, Danny Sanchez; News Story, Kayjel J. Mairena
The Corsair advising team includes journalism instructor Sharyn Obsatz, photojournalism instructor Gerard Burkhart, and social media journalism instructor Samantha Nuñez. The Corsair staff produces a newspaper in the spring and fall semesters, currently available on issuu.com/corsair.website, and publishes news content online at thecorsaironline.com. Follow The Corsair on Instagram @corsairnews.
“After two decades of praising Corsair photographers and writers, I feel like a bit of a broken record,” Burkhart said. “The reality is that we are record-setting, with the entire staff producing high-quality, high-news-value stories and photos that help launch their professional careers.”
Santa Monica College’s journalism program offers transfer classes and career training in reporting and nonfiction storytelling in print, photography, video, audio, social media, and digital media production. Graduates can pursue careers as reporters, correspondents, editors, copywriters, audience engagement editors, social media content creators and broadcast producers. Those interested in joining The Corsair for the Fall 2026 semester can sign up for Journalism 16: Producing the Campus Newspaper; Journalism 22/Photo 14: Photography for Publication or Journalism 7/Media 25: Engaging Audiences for Journalism and Social Media. More information is available at smc.edu/journalism.
Santa Monica College is a California Community College accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC).
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