BEST MEDIA COVERAGE  ­ – awarded to a media outlet and/or reporter for excellent reporting

Requirements and limitations

Nominations may be made only by a CGJA Chapter or Association for its county. Where there is no Chapter or Association, nominations may be made by a CGJA member who resides in the county.

A county may nominate only one civil grand jury report and one news media coverage topic per year. A single civil grand jury report may be the subject of both awards.

The nominated report must have been published within the preceding five years — thereby allowing sufficient time for responses and implementation.

Awards are announced at the CGJA Annual Conference in the fall.

Award criteria

Increased awareness of the county’s current or most recent civil grand jury
Reported on the responses to civil grand jury report(s)
Educated community about the civil grand jury system in general
Covered the important basis of the civil grand jury report(s)
In-depth reporting vs superficial account
Extensive reporting (e.g., one-time verses multiple accounts and/or audience reach)
Additional points for information on obtaining reports, applying for and submitting complaints to the civil grand jury.

2026 Best Media Coverage – to the Santa Barbara Independent, with news editor, Nick Welsh, for conveying the 2024-2025 civil grand jury’s work to residents of Santa Barbara County. The Independent published at least one story on every one of the jury’s original investigations. In several cases, these stories were prominently placed as lead headlines. It also provided multiple follow-up stories that detailed several of the responses to jury reports. In addition, there were several complementary pieces during the year that enhanced public understanding of the value of the jury’s work.

Roughly half of the overall reporting on the jury in 2024-25 was produced by Editor Nick Welsh, who has earned unique credibility covering news in Santa Barbara for The Independent since 1983; the remainder was split among various beat reporters. Nick Welsh’s extensive experience allows his coverage to provide historical context and perspective that is invaluable in analyzing community issues. He is known locally as the “Angry Poodle,” the subhead he employs on his byline when he pens opinion and analysis. The overall coverage of the Santa Barbara County Civil Grand Jury during the past year was extensive and exemplary. It included breaking news stories about newly issued reports, as well as features, commentary, and follow-up analysis. The quality and clarity of the reporting was consistently strong.

See listing of past recipients

View the form we use to evaluate the nominations.

Download the nomination material (instructions and fillable nomination form) and save to your computer before filling out the form.