CalMatters received five Golden State Journalism Awards this year, earning recognition for reporting on public health, criminal justice, education, courage in journalism and journalism with measurable public impact.
The awards, presented by the Sacramento Press Club, honor political and public policy reporting from across California.
Reporter Byrhonda Lyons won the impact in journalism award for her investigation into how the California Department of Motor Vehicles handled surplus proceeds from auctioned vehicles. Her reporting found that the DMV collected more than $8 million between 2016 and 2024 from nearly 5,300 vehicle auctions in which cars sold for more than the costs owed, but former owners were not notified that they could be entitled to the remaining money.
CalMatters journalism engineer Mohamed Al Elew followed the investigation by building an online tool that allowed people to search whether their towed vehicle had generated excess proceeds. The DMV later created a similar lookup system.
The reporting also prompted legislative action. In March, state Sen. Kelly Seyarto, R-Murrieta, cited Lyons’ work when introducing SB 1029, a bill that would require the DMV to notify vehicle owners when surplus funds from a lien sale may be owed to them.
Awards judges called the project a clear example of public service journalism, noting that CalMatters used reporting and public records to uncover money that should have been returned to Californians.
CalMatters investigative reporter Sergio Olmos was among the journalists honored with the courage in journalism award. The Sacramento Press Club recognized reporters who continued covering protests against federal immigration enforcement actions in Los Angeles in 2025 despite being struck, detained or otherwise targeted.
The award included journalists whose experiences were referenced in legal action filed by the Los Angeles Press Club and Status Coup against the Los Angeles Police Department. The lawsuit alleged that officers targeted journalists even when they were clearly identified as members of the press. A court later issued an injunction barring law enforcement from interfering with journalists doing their jobs.
Olmos was included after he was hit in the chest by a crowd-control munition while reporting on an immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025. He told The Washington Post he was wearing a press pass and recording video near a federal building complex when LAPD officers fired munitions at demonstrators. Olmos said he believed he was struck by a 40 mm sponge grenade.
Over the past year, Olmos has reported extensively on immigration raids in California. His investigative series examined the conduct of immigration agents from Bakersfield to Los Angeles, and later in Chicago and Minneapolis, documenting allegations of forceful tactics and questionable detentions that courts have said likely violated constitutional protections.
Anat Rubin won in the criminal justice reporting category for “The Man Who Unsolved a Murder,” an investigation into the shortage of investigators working with public defense teams in California. The reporting found that low-income defendants, who make up at least 80% of people charged with crimes, are often convicted without anyone independently investigating the allegations against them.
Rubin’s work showed that nearly half of California’s 58 counties do not employ full-time public defense investigators. In counties that do have them, access varies widely and is often insufficient.
Judges praised the project for its reporting and writing, saying it clearly showed the consequences of inadequate investigative support for defendants. They also noted the reporting on the risks of relying on flat-fee defense attorneys instead of public defenders.
CalMatters reporter Joe Garcia was a finalist in the same category for reporting from inside California’s prison system. His work examined the realities of shared prison cells and the state’s parole process, including how rehabilitative programming has expanded while the share of prisoners found suitable for parole has gradually declined.
In public health reporting, Jocelyn Wiener, Marisa Kendall and Erica Yee won for an eight-part series on California’s CARE Court program. The program allows family members, first responders and others to petition courts to help people with severe mental illness obtain treatment, and in some cases gives judges authority to order care.
The series examined how the program has worked in practice, including the experiences of families trying to get loved ones off the streets and into psychiatric treatment, and the legal limits courts face when handling petitions. Judges said the reporting explained how the law’s original goals were weakened during the legislative process and why the program has struggled to deliver on its promises.
Adam Echelman won in education reporting for his coverage of financial aid fraud in California’s community college system. His reporting found that colleges were seeing unprecedented levels of fraud, with scammers stealing millions more in student aid than in any prior period, according to reports colleges submitted to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.
Following the CalMatters reporting, Republican members of Congress called for a federal investigation, a Democratic state lawmaker requested a state audit and the chancellor’s office approved a new identification verification policy for students. Jory Hadsell, an executive in technology initiatives for the chancellor’s office, said colleges have become more aggressive in detecting fraud through improved filtering practices and new software.
Judges said Echelman’s coverage combined deep reporting, data and the voices of people affected by the fraud, while underscoring the stakes for students, faculty, staff and taxpayers.
Original source: CalMatters
