Cal Press delivers annual honors
Since 1878, the California Press Association has served as the guardian of the history and traditions of California journalism. On Dec. 2, the association presented several awards at its annual winter meeting in San Francisco, presided over by President Will Fleet, publisher of The Fresno Bee.

Hardy Brown, co-publisher of The Black Voice News in Riverside, received the Justus F. Craemer California Newspaper Executive of the Year Award. presented by Harold W. Fuson Jr.

The Philip N. McCombs Achievement Award was presented to Erwin Potts, retired CEO of The McClatchy Company. Shown above are presenter Frank R.J. Whittaker, Gary Pruitt, Potts and Jim Brock, chairman of the Philip N. McCombs Achievement Award Committee.

The Jack Bates Award was presented to Richard Cameron, left, journalism instructor at Cerritos College, by former Bates award recipient Jim Ewert, right, CNPA general counsel.

 
Two honorees were inducted into the California Newspaper Hall of Fame: Benjamin Parke Avery, an editor at several newspapers including the Marysville Appeal, and Jack Craemer, Marin Independent Journal. Pictured left are Avery descendant Andrew Avery Welcher and presenter Becky Clark. At right, Jean Craemer and son Jeff are pictured with Clark.

Herb Caen, journalist for more than 60 years, most famously at the San Francisco Chronicle, was honored with The Mark Twain Award for Journalistic Excellence in California. Chronicle Editor Ward Bushee accepted the award, presented by Becky Clark.

Luncheon speaker Louis Freedberg, left, executive director of EdSource, offered data and research on educational issues in California. Judy Muller, associate professor at USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, award-winning journalist and author, was the dinner speaker. She engaged the audience with compelling excerpts from her recently published book "Emus Loose in Egnar," proclaiming that the First Amendment is alive and well in small towns across America, and journalism is not dead. She is pictured with Cal Press President Will Fleet.

Becky Clark, former publisher at the Idyllwild Town Crier, is the new California Press Association president, serving a two-year term. Clark is shown presenting former President Will Fleet with a prize for service.

Membership in the California Press Association is by individual, not by newspaper or company. Learn more in the Cal Press newsletter.

One of the earliest press associations in the country, the California Press Association was founded in 1878 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

In 1925 and 1926, the association worked with the Southern California Editorial Association to form a trade organization-the California Newspaper Publishers Association. Today many members of Cal Press are also members of CNPA.

Outstanding speakers and programs are presented at the association's annual day-long conference in San Francisco in December. Educational tours have been conducted in past years to places of interest in California, neighboring states, sometimes to more distant places in the United States, and occasionally outside of the country.

In another of its functions, the association gives public recognition at its annual winter meeting to outstanding newspaper people of the state, past and present, with five of the most coveted awards in California journalism: the Justus F. Craemer California Newspaper Executive of the Year, the Philip N. McCombs Achievement Award, the Jack Bates Award, and election to the California Newspaper Hall of Fame. The Mark Twain Award for Journalistic Excellence in California was established in 2010 to recognize writers and journalists for their significant contributions to California journalism.

The Jack Bates Award, established in 2007, is in appreciation of effective leadership in addressing newspaper challenges and assisting journalism education-demonstrating that the best leadership for the newspapers of the future comes from those who understand and appreciate how to take the best of the past and invest it into the future.

Membership in the California Press Association is by individual, not by newspaper or company. Some newspaper families in the state have been represented in Cal Press for three and four generations.

Consequently, membership in the association, or what may be characterized as a "close professional family," is highly treasured.

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