In light of the current pandemic crisis, the CGJA Awards Committee has decided to extend the deadline for nominations for the two California Grand Jurors’ Association Excellence in Reporting Awards though the end of July. This additional time is to encourage chapter members to submit nominations for one or both of the following awards:
Best Grand Jury Reporting – award based on quality and impact of a particular grand jury investigation.
Best Grand Jury Media Coverage – recognizes outstanding coverage of a specific grand jury report or overall coverage given to a grand jury throughout the year.
Your MCCGJA Board is urging you to submit your nominations to the Board for consideration. In choosing a Marin County civil grand jury report or media coverage nomination, please consider the award criteria below and select from the eligible time period of 2014 through 2019.
Please submit your completed report or media coverage nomination to the MCCGJA board by July 20 using the online Award Nomination form.
Since each county can make only one nomination in each of the award categories, the Marin Chapter Board will convene and decide on our chapter’s nomination(s) to the CGJA Awards Committee for its July 30 submission date.
Past award recipients can be viewed on the Excellence in Reporting Awards page of the California Civil Grand Jurors’ Association.
Tom Borden
President, Marin Chapter California Grand Jurors’ Association
EXCELLENCE IN REPORTING AWARDS CRITERIA
Grand Jury Reporting award
- Significance of the issue, topic rationale.
- Clear description of the investigation.
- Findings follow from facts, recommendations based on the findings.
- Clarity of language, objectivity and fairness.
- Identified problems accompanied by suggested means for resolution.
- Impact on the citizenry.
- Difficulty of the investigation.
- Media coverage.
- Agency acknowledgement.
- Changes resulting from the report.
Grand Jury Media Coverage award — Nominations may be based on the coverage of a specific grand jury report or on the overall coverage given to a grand jury throughout the year.
- Increased awareness of the county’s current or most recent civil grand jury.
- Reported on the responses to grand jury report(s).
- Educated community about the civil grand jury system in general.
- Covered the important bases of the grand jury report(s).
- In-depth reporting vs. superficial account.
- Extensive reporting (e.g., one-time versus multiple accounts and/or audience reach).
- Additional points for information on obtaining reports, applying for and submitting complaints to the grand jury.