The Citizen hosted a panel Saturday for the Northern California Journalism Association of Community Colleges conference at San Francisco State University.

Editor in Chief Li Khan, Managing Editor Lylah Schmedel-Permanna, and Associate Editor and Visual Editor Desmond Meagley spoke to fellow student journalists on the process and importance of covering local government at the community college level.

“You are not just a student at a community college,” Khan said. “You have a wide open opportunity right in front of you to be an education reporter.”

The panel covered topics such as developing fluency with the California community college system, how to cover local elections, as well as advice for investigating your district.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Photo: Kristina Hoessl

The Citizen hosted a training on accountability reporting for community college student journalists at the JACC Northern California Fall 2024 conference.

Khan emphasized that there was “nothing really special” about the student members of The Citizen.

“We’re just community college students who took a journalism class,” Khan said. “There’s nothing stopping you from investigating your own community college district and chasing after those awards and recognition […] All you need to do is start asking questions.”

Throughout the conference various other panelists from local and national publications spoke to attendees on a wide array of topics related to the journalism field.

The conference closed with an award ceremony for submitted media from attending Northern California student publications, in which The Citizen won nine awards.

• The Citizen Staff received a meritorious award for Online General Excellence
• The Citizen Staff received third place for Editorial
• Desmond Meagley received first place for Opinion Writing
• Desmond Meagley received second place for Illustration
• Desmond Meagley received third place for Photo Illustration
• Ian Waters received an honorable mention award for Critical Writing
• Isabelly Sabô Barbosa received second place for Opinion Writing
• Leo Premnath-Ray received a meritorious award for Enterprise News Story/ Series
• Tamara Copes received an honorable mention award for Column Writing

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