Inside the Newsroom

The Best of the West contest recognizes work in 14 states. The contest was founded in 1987 to reward journalistic excellence and promote freedom of information.

Our 2026 primary election event details are available, and we also have a DIY kit to host your own event.

The investigation was honored with the Frank A. Blethen Award for Local Accountability Reporting in the Poynter Journalism Prizes, and as a finalist for excellence in local and regional investigative reporting in the Scripps Howard Journalism Awards.

The award fuels expanding Digital Democracy to give people more power over state government across the nation.

The award recognizes the best U.S. professional reporting on state government accountability, across all media types.

The documentary, “Operation Return to Sender,” investigated the immigration forces carrying out the first raids of the mass deportation campaign.

The American Society of Magazine Editors named CalMatters’ investigation, “The Man Who Unsolved a Murder” as a finalist in the public interest category. Winners will be announced in May.

The Toner Prizes, awarded by the Newhouse School, recognize the best political reporting and are named after Robin Toner, the first woman to hold the position of national political correspondent for The New York Times.

Dave Lesher turned CalMatters into one of California’s most influential newsrooms — and launched new tools to make your government transparent

The reporting “speaks volumes about the role that public defenders play in maintaining the integrity of the whole system, not just in defending their clients.”