Business Times wins 5 awards at annual California Journalism Awards
The Pacific Coast Business Times took home a bit of hardware at the annual California Journalism Awards.
Hosted by the California News Publishers Association, the Business Times won five awards across five different editorial categories for reporting done in 2025. The Business Times competes statewide against other weekly newspapers with a circulation of under 4,300.
For the category of “Breaking News,” the Business Times earned a third-place finish for its reporting on last year’s ICE raid of Glass House Farms’ operations in both Carpinteria and Camarillo, written by Executive Editor Jorge Mercado.
For the category of “Technology Reporting,” the Business Times earned fourth place for a story package on three different stories regarding quantum and AI, including: A quantum leap for UCSB Nobel prizes, Santa Barbara’s quantum ties are just beginning and Santa Barbara AI firm raises $21M in Series A. All stories were written by Mercado.
For the category “Housing and Land-Use Reporting,” the Business Times earned fifth place for the story 11K housing units on tap; advocates want more written by Staff Writer Mike Harris.
For the category of “Sports Feature Story,” the Business Times earned a fifth-place finish for its reporting on the historic Amateur Athletic Union Basketball program, the Oakland Soldiers, announcing its Santa Barbara franchise. The story was written by Mercado.
Finally, the Business Times’ podcast, Civil Dialogues, launched in 2024, took home fifth place for best podcast. Civil Dialogues is hosted by the Business Times’ Founder and Editor Henry Dubroff. The podcast can be found at pacbiztimes.com/civil-dialogues.
We aim to continue the great work in 2026 and want to extend a thank you to all our wonderful readers! The full list of winners is at https://cnpa.com/2025-california-journalism-awards-winners-announced/.
