SPJ recognizes Daylight San Diego for outstanding reporting in 2025
In our newsroom’s first year of publishing, the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists awarded Daylight with five first-place wins, and co-founder Kate Morrissey was honored as 2026 Journalist of the Year.
Written by Lauren J. Mapp
Our Daylight San Diego team brought home 17 awards from the Society of Professional Journalists’ San Diego Pro Chapter banquet last Thursday night, and co-founder Kate Morrissey was honored as the Journalist of the Year.
SPJ San Diego honored 155 professional and student journalists and six newsrooms during its June 25 banquet at the Riverwalk Golf Club. This year’s awards were judged by partners in the Hawaii and East Tennessee chapters.
From stories on trans youth and Indigenous college students, to immigrants and the Diwali festival, every Daylight piece recognized by SPJ highlights communities that our survey and listening session participants say are underserved or misrepresented by legacy news outlets.
Daylight San Diego won first place in the Digital News Site category. The judges wrote that they selected the website for the top award because the content is well organized with excellent imagery, photos, information and community coverage.
“The best part of this website is that it doesn't assault the viewer with pop-up ads and auto-play videos,” the judges wrote. “Too many news websites are sensory overload now, not to mention the overflow of ads that look like the offspring of tabloids.”
Prior to Thursday’s awards ceremony, Daylight co-founder Morrissey was selected as one of three Journalist of the Year finalists alongside ABC 10News investigative reporter Austin Grabish and KPBS racial justice and social equity reporter Katie Hyson.
In her acceptance speech, Morrissey shared insight on the complications of covering immigration during the second Trump administration, describing it as if assigned to cover any fire that ignites within a field.
“You’re looking at this field, and the entire freaking thing is on fire, and you have to figure out which fire to run to first, and so you lose a lot of mental energy just in deciding which fire to run to,” she said. “For anyone in this room who is covering immigration stories right now, all the kudos to you because this is not something that any one of us can carry alone.”
In her speech, Morrissey called on journalists to have a meaningful conversation about humanizing the people included in media coverage over finding a so-called “balance.” She warned that as dehumanizing language becomes increasingly normalized, journalists must be deliberate about the words they choose.
“It’s a fact that people are human beings. That is a fact. Our coverage should always start there,” she said. “Journalism that talks about people as less than human or something other than human is not accurate. It is irresponsible.”
Accepting the award, she dedicated it to the many sources who trusted her with their stories over the years.
“Their bravery, their honesty, their desire to see the truth reach the world is what makes my work possible,” Morrissey said.
Daylight was awarded third place for Social Media Storytelling for work published on our Instagram account, as well as the following awards for individual stories:
In the first place rankings for nondaily reporting and writing:
- Arts/Entertainment Story (Performing Arts): Lauren J. Mapp for “‘Madness takes its toll:’ Crazed Imaginations celebrates 50 years of ‘Rocky Horror’”
- Criminal Justice Story: Lauren J. Mapp for “San Diego advocates push to end girls’ incarceration”
- Education Story: Lauren J. Mapp for “CSU San Marcos to open Native student center this fall”
- Government Story: Lauren J. Mapp for “Local nonprofits unite amid Trump-era funding cuts”
In the second place rankings for Design Elements:
- Photo Essay: Brittany Cruz-Fejeran for “Light over darkness: Diwali brings hundreds to Balboa Park”
In the third place rankings for nondaily reporting and writing:
- Multicultural Story: Sam Barney-Gibbs for “Salon for trans youth provides gender-affirming care”
- News Story: Kate Morrissey for “San Diego ICE arrests expand to green card appointments”
In addition to having her work with Daylight San Diego recognized, Morrissey also received several awards for her work produced with our friends at Capital & Main.
In the first place rankings for daily reporting and writing:
- Health Story: “With a jar of blood as evidence, detained man tells immigration judge ‘I am dying little by little’”
In the second place rankings for daily reporting and writing:
- Business Story: “ICE raids push workers into the shadows, disrupting the economy”
- Feature Story (Serious Subject): “‘I have so much fear that they're going to torture me’”
- Government Story: “Trump's nominee to head Customs and Border Protection could be implicated in alleged cover-up”
- News Story: “People in ICE custody face invasive strip searches after visits with loved ones”
In the third place rankings for daily reporting and writing:
- Criminal Justice Story: “International tribunal condemns U.S. border officials for torturing, killing immigrant”
- Multicultural Story: “Fear and expulsion: Under Trump, history is poised to repeat itself”
