Celebrating Excellence with Beach Media’s 2025 Award Winners
Teaser
Student Media achieved significant national acclaim in 2025, securing top honors at the Pinnacle Awards, CMBAM, and the National Arts and Entertainment Awards. These accolades across reporting, design and business strategy validate the professional-grade skills of students at the Long Beach Current, ENYE Magazine, and DIG Magazine, proving they are prepared to exceed industry standards.
A Culture of Passion and Intentional Creativity
It is one thing to be a sustainable student-run media organization on a college campus, but there is something truly incredible about seeing student media earn national recognition. At Beach Media, the students bring a different level of passion, creativity, and determination that you can feel the moment you walk into the newsroom. Whether it is the constant brainstorming of ideas in the common room, the creative team sketching out new designs for their publications, or the business department planning the next promotional event, the work happening behind the scenes is a work of art in itself that is thoughtful and intentional.
Celebrating Major National Recognition
This year, that work paid off and received tremendous major recognition through the College Media Association’s Pinnacle Awards, the College Media Business and Advertising Managers Awards, and the National Arts and Entertainment Awards.
The Long Beach Current’s Success at the Pinnacle Awards
During the October Pinnacle Awards, The Long Beach Current (formerly known as the Daily 49er) came home with a lot to be proud of. Tanisha Bucad and Lizbeth Cortes-Gutierrez, LBC staff members, earned the first place award for the best General News Package. Claiming first highlights the team’s amazing reporting and multimedia storytelling.
LBC earned third place for the Media Website of the Year award. This recognition considered their creative design and overall look as one of the best. They also got an honorable mention for Periodic Newspaper of the Year. This category highlighted the LBC’s strong writing and photography across multiple issues. These honors showcase that this publication continues to operate with a level of excellence that stands out on the national level.
Individually, student designers Luis Castilla and El Nicklin earned second place in the Newspaper Front Page category, which acknowledges their hard work with strong visual hierarchy and their ability to prioritize top stories through a compelling design.
ENYE Leading in Originality and Identity
ENYE Magazine continued the winning streak at the Pinnacle Awards. Former graphic designers for the bilingual publication, Jennix Bien-Walker and Gopi Vadsak, earned first place for Best Magazine Cover. This is a category that truly celebrates originality and visual impact. ENYE’s work has always been recognized for its strong racial identity and creative direction, and this award is another emphasis on its influence within student media.
Strategic Wins for the Business and Marketing Team
Beach Media’s success this year was not limited to just editorial and design achievements. The business team, the power behind the scenes, had an outstanding year at the College Media Business and Advertising Managers Awards in November 2025. CMBAM is a huge annual business conference that focuses on public relations, marketing, audience engagement, and promotional strategy. The team came home with first place for the Best Self-Promotional Website award for its well-executed digital branding. They also received another first place award for the Best Self-Branded Promotional Giveaway for their work that combined strong identity and strategic design. These awards reflect the true talent of the business students who strengthen the Beach Media organization behind the scenes.
Adding to the long list of achievements, Beach Media also earned two major honors at the National Arts and Entertainment Awards in December 2025. LBC’s Lauren Bensen received first place for Best Arts or Culture Feature, which is an award that recognizes insightful storytelling about a person/place. Lauren’s ability to approach cultural topics in this way earned her a national recognition that puts a mark on Beach Media history.
Critical Analysis and Versatile Student Voices
Delfino Camacho, another LBC writer, earned second place for Best Commentary or Critique for a piece where he demonstrated strong analysis and critical voice. These honors show the versatility of Beach Media students. They are not just strong reporters and designers but they also bring skills in areas like compelling cultural commentating with an ability to engage thoughtfully.
Translating Awards into Real-World Professional Experience
These awards are very important to acknowledge because they reflect how student media contributes to real-world experience. It is the evidence that clearly demonstrates how students are developing professional skills in writing, editing, design, marketing, and critical analysis. It shows future employers that Beach Media students can exceed industry expectations and create impactful work for different companies.
The 2025 award season is a reflection of the talent, dedication, and collaborative spirit that define Beach Media. This year’s accomplishments paves a path for the next chapter of Beach Media which is brighter than ever as new ideas and voices continue to emerge. The work ahead is full of possibilities! Congratulations to all of the Beach Media award winners of 2025!