The California News Publishers Association has honored Stocktonia with five awards, including a first place prize for public service journalism, in its annual California Journalism Awards.

The contest, which recognizes reporting from news outlets of all sizes across the state, also gave Stocktonia top honors in its division for investigative reporting, in-depth reporting and coverage of local government and immigration.

Public service reporting: First place

In the public service category, the entire staff of Stocktonia was honored for relentless coverage of a November mass shooting at a children’s party that left four people dead and 13 wounded.

The newsroom published more than 30 stories from the day of the shooting through the week following — reporting that showed an intense focus on serving the community in its time of need. Staff provided daily video updates in English and Spanish, broke news throughout the week on the investigation and crime scene, and revealed the deeper impacts of gang violence and online hate speech. Stocktonia also captured the city’s heart in a plea for tales of why local residents love their hometown; those tributes eventually filled an entire issue of Stocktonia magazine.

Stocktonia’s other honors in the contest’s Division 5 include:

Investigative reporting: First place, Aaron Leathley

For coverage of the criminal case against a Stockton Unified school trustee, including an investigation of the search warrant in the case, which found almost none of the original claims in the search warrant affidavit had been proved true.

Coverage of local government: First place, Cassie Dickman

For coverage of a contract, awarded with City Council approval, that hired an outside adviser for the interim city manager who had no known municipal experience. After Dickman’s reporting, the contract was canceled and the interim city manager’s job was not renewed.

Immigration watchdog reporting: First place, Lillian Perlmutter, Shaylee Navarro and Annie Barker

For a collection of reporting and photography on 2025’s national immigration crackdown and the ripple effects in the Stockton community. One showcase story revealed a statewide shift in which more migrants were summoned to mystery meetings to discuss their immigration cases — meetings that turned into arrests.

In-depth reporting: Second place, Aaron Leathley

Leathley’s reporting on Stockton’s project to refurbish an existing pair of office towers as a new City Hall uncovered arcane rules that allow many cost overruns in city contracts to be hidden from public scrutiny. The system defies logic: The larger the overruns get, the less public approval they require. In one instance, the investigation found, the City Council approved nine cost increases, but spending was actually increased 33 times, adding nearly $20 million to costs without votes in public meetings.

The statewide honors add to Stocktonia’s earlier accolades this year. In April, the newsroom was named a finalist in the Poynter Prizes, a longstanding nationwide contest. Leathley and Dickman were recognized as finalists for the First Amendment award, which recognized their coverage of city contracting, the City Hall project and the school board criminal case.

Stocktonia, a startup nonprofit newsroom founded in 2022, has grown to be the largest newsroom in Stockton, with six full-time staff and other contributing journalists.

Stocktonia Editor Scott Linesburgh congratulated his small-but-mighty team Monday after the final awards were announced.

“I’m very proud of out team, which includes reporters, visual personnel, editors and more,” Linesburgh said. “Stocktonia was founded to do in-depth, serious journalism in our community. It is an honor to be recognized by an organization as prestigious at the CNPA.”