IEEE Computer Society Writers Take First Place in Los Angeles Press Club’s Southern California Journalism Awards

Share this on:

Los Alamitos, Calif., 26 June 2018 – Michael Martinez and Lori Cameron of the IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS) staff won first place in the Los Angeles Press Club’s Southern California Journalism Awards for best story about minority/immigrant reporting (online). The winning article is entitled “Untold Stories: Setting the Record Straight on Tech’s Racial History,” framed from 2017 research featured in IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, which is published by the IEEE-CS. Cameron is a senior writer and Martinez is the digital editor and social media manager.

Said one of the judges about their work, “I found this story to be quite interesting in terms of the research done to showcase people of color that contributed in the computer industry. It also can be an educational tool for future use with youth benefiting from the knowledge of contributions made by people of color.”

The 60th Southern California Journalism Awards, which had the largest and most impressive turnout in the Club’s recent history, calls attention to the work of regional journalists from some of the nation’s biggest media outlets while promoting excellence in new and emerging media.

Out of over 1,400 entries received this year, two articles written by Martinez and Cameron were honored in the 2018 Southern California Journalism Awards:

•    Minority/Immigration Reporting Category – First Place
Michael Martinez and Lori Cameron, “Untold Stories: Setting the Record Straight on Tech’s Racial History,” highlighting Arvid Nelson, author of “Race and Computing: The Problem of Sources, the Potential of Prosopography, and the Lesson of Ebony Magazine,” published in the January/February 2017 issue of IEEE Annals of the History of Computing.

•    Science & Technology Reporting Category – Third Place
Lori Cameron and Michael Martinez, “The Epic Journey of Women in Computing: Advances, Setbacks, and an Uncertain Future,” highlighting William F. Vogel, author of “The Spitting Image of a Woman Programmer: Changing Portrayals of Women in the American Computing Industry, 1958-1985,” published in the April/June 2017 issue of IEEE Annals of the History of Computing.

Winners were announced at the 60th Annual Journalism Awards Dinner on Sunday, 24 June, in Los Angeles.

IEEE Annals of the History of Computing covers the breadth of computer history. Featuring scholarly articles by leading computer scientists and historians, as well as firsthand accounts by computer pioneers, Annals is the primary publication for recording, analyzing, and debating the history of computing. Annals also serves as a focal point for people interested in uncovering and preserving the records of this exciting field.