February 5, 2014
California State University, Northridge Journalism Department graduates won Golden Mike awards for their work at KCSN during the last year.
The Golden Mike for best government and political reporting was awarded to Malcolm Hoyle and Devin Knight for “November Ballot Initiatives: Proposition 30 and the Three Strikes Law,” broadcast on KCSN. The ceremony was held on Jan. 25 at the Universal Hilton. Golden Mike awards recognize outstanding television and radio broadcasting. KCSN has been awarded a total of 63 Golden Mikes in the radio division for stations with five or less full-time staff members.
It was the first journalism award for Hoyle, who graduated in May 2013 and now works at KBAK in Bakersfield, Calif.
“It was amazing for me,” Hoyle said. “It was a real honor.”
Hoyle gave credit to the journalism program at CSUN for his success.
“You get a lot of real world experience,” he said. “I hear a lot of times that CSUN students have a good reputation. There wasn’t as much of a learning curve coming out of CSUN as there may have been for other students.”
Katie Oh, who also graduated in May 2013, won the best medical and science reporting award for her story on stroke rehabilitation.
The story, which was broadcast on KCSN, was her final project for the broadcast news practicum course.
“The course helped in not only learning the fundamentals, but also learning the professional aspects,” Oh said. “I felt very well prepared and had the experience I needed for my final piece.”
CSUN Journalism professor Julio Ortiz also won a Golden Mike during the Radio Television News Association of Southern California ceremony for best individual writing, marking his fourth Golden Mike award.
“Getting it for best individual writing makes you aware of the responsibility you have in how words make a difference in your community as a newscaster,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz won for his Spanish-language story “Pepenadores de La Fe” (Faith Scavengers) broadcast on Univision 34 in Los Angeles.
The winning story by Ortiz, who has also won 19 Emmys, was originally written in Spanish.
“It’s even more meaningful,” Ortiz said, since he was competing against stories that did not have to be translated.
Ortiz, who graduated from CSUN in 2000, currently teaches reporting for television news in the Journalism Department.
Jonathan Gonzalez, who graduated in May 2013, also won an award for best spot news reporting.
The Golden Mike was awarded to Gonzalez for his story “Injured spectators at PG&E Implosion in ‘Safety Zone,’” broadcast on KBAK.
Gonzalez said that he was nervous during the broadcast and never expected to receive an award for the story since it was his first chance to cover breaking news.
“Always be prepared in this business because anything can happen at any time,” Gonzalez said. “Always assume you’re going to wake up with breaking news and you’ll be good.”