By Rick Griffin
The East County Herald’s East County Biz column was recently honored with three writing awards, including a first-place award, from the San Diego Press Club. The column was recognized in the non-daily newspaper category with a top award for a real estate-related story about construction at Grossmont College. In addition, the column received recognition in the public service/consumer advocacy category, including a second-place award on talent agency scams and a third-place award about online shopping.
Rick Griffin, who has written the Herald column every week since 2004, received eight writing awards overall from the Press Club. He was among five entrants who received eight awards apiece. Three of his awards were in the trade publications category, including a third-place award for a newsletter written for Grossmont College and second- and third-place awards for an annual report written for the Grossmont Healthcare District. It was Griffin’s ninth consecutive year and 12th year out of the last 13 for winning a Press Club writing award.
The Press Club presented more than 350 awards in 136 categories at its recent 40th annual Excellence in Journalism awards ceremony. The Press Club’s writing awards program is among the largest regional competitions in the U.S. The competition has drawn the third-largest number of entries for press clubs in the U.S., after the National Press Club in Washington and the Denver Press Club.