East County Magazine Wins Four Journalism Awards

By Miriam Raftery - www.eastcountymagazine.org

June 26, 2026 (San Diego’s East County)— The Society of Professional Journalists’ San Diego Chapter last night presented four Excellence in Journalism awards to ECM editor Miriam Raftery and associate editor Karen Pearlman. The awards honored ECM’s coverage of issues involving the El Capitan Dam in Lakeside, aerial firefighting readiness, the impacts of mass deportations, and our guide to travel in San Diego County’s desert regions.

Raftery received a first place award for an audio feature titled “Who will be there when they come for you?” Hear the interview with immigration attorney Nora Milner, which aired on East County Magazine’s radio show on KNSJ. You can also read a summary  of that interview by Alex Schorr. In the interview, Milner voiced alarm over blatant denials of due process for immigrants under the Trump administration, warned that even citizens are not safe, and offered tips for those concerned about being visited by ICE or detained for potential deportation.

Pearlman took second place for investigative/enterprise story in the daily reporting category for “Proposed Lakeside sand mine owner sues city of San Diego for damages from water release at El Capitan Dam.” Her investigative reporting detailed the dangerous conditions of the old earthen dam and the potentially catastrophic loss of life if it were to rupture. He report spotlighted how the city’s failure to repair or rebuild the dam necessitated releasing water which raised the water table, resulting in a downstream property owner suing the city for destroying the site’s sand-mining potential.

Third place for investigative/enterprise reporting went to Raftery for her article, “Does the San Diego region have adequate aerial firefighting capability for the coming season?” Raftery initiated the investigative report after learning that Cal Fire’s Ramona air base would be closed for nearly a year and that an SDG&E air crane on which fire authorities had relied for aerial firefighting support was no longer available to the manufacturer declining to renew the lease.

Pearlman and Raftery shared a third place award for travel writing for their comprehensive piece titled “Our Guide to San Diego’s desert destinations.” The article was written as part of a series of regional guides for East County Magazine’s newly launched “Visit East County” section highlighting travel and tourism destinations in San Diego’s inland region.