This post was updated Nov. 12 at 5:25 p.m.

The Daily Bruin received several national awards and was nominated for multiple regional awards in October. 

The Bruin won a total of 34 awards at MediaFest 2025, the largest convention of college media students and their advisors in the United States in Washington, D.C. The Daily Bruin was awarded three Associated Collegiate Press Pacemakers Awards – an award largely considered to be the highest honor for student journalism – and multiple individual awards.

The Bruin won Multiplatform, Newspaper and Innovation pacemakers.

The ACP Pacemaker Award for Innovation is one of the newest Pacemaker Award categories, recognizing the “forward thinking” of student media organizations, according to its website. The Bruin was awarded the Pacemaker Award for Innovation for its breaking news feed, created by 2024-25 digital Managing editor Mia Tavares and Main Site director Ed Nawrocki. 

The Bruin also won third place for the ACP Best of Show Award for its website.

Sports editor Connor Dullinger won the ACP Individual Award for best sports game story for “Wilted by heat: UCLA men’s basketball flatlined in season-ending loss to Tennessee” and also received the College Media Association Award for best game story for the piece. Annabel Braunstein won second place in the ACP individual award Comic Strip/Panel category for her piece, “LA Olympic Games.” Daily Bruin Video also won second place for the ACP individual award for Broadcast News Story for its video, “On The Steps Episode 1: Community comes together in aftermath of LA fires.”

The Bruin received the CMA Pinnacle Awards for Audio Newscast and Breaking News Multimedia Coverage.

Assistant Design director Katie Azuma and assistant Photo editor Aidan Sun won the CMA Pinnacle for Best Newspaper Front Page for “Pressure Points.”

2024-25 Data editor Liam McGlynn and 2025-26 Graphics editor Noah Hrung won the CMA Pinnacle Award for Best Interactive/Motion Infographic for “UCLA’s Food Trucks.”

Daily Bruin staff members were also recently named as finalists for the Los Angeles Press Club National Arts and Entertainment student journalism awards.

Arts contributor Warren Riley is a finalist in the student category for the Best Arts And Entertainment news story for his piece ‘Theatre Palisades continues legacy of community, creativity after LA County fires.” Assistant Photo editor Selin Filiz photograph from “Chinese Cultural Dance Club cultivates ‘Flower of Youth’ at spring showcase” is a finalist for the Best A&E photo in the student category. 2024-25 PRIME Director Martin Sevcik’s piece “Technical Difficulties: The Onion buys InfoWars but is insufficient in bringing extremist media to tears”  is a finalist for the Best A&E commentary.

Editor-in-chief Dylan Winward said The Bruin is proud of the work it has put forth this year and in the past year. 

“The Bruin’s coverage this year has expanded thanks to the hard work of our editors and the students that serve as our interns, contributors and staff ,” he said. “We are honored to have received these awards and remain dedicated to serving the UCLA community.” 

See the following list for all the awards The Bruin was awarded:

Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker Awards

• Multiplatform: Daily Bruin 
• Newspaper/Newsmagazine: Daily Bruin 
• Innovation: Daily Bruin 

Associated Collegiate Press Individual Awards

• First place, Sports Game Story: Wilted by heat: UCLA men’s basketball flatlined in season-ending loss to Tennessee by Connor Dullinger
• Second place, Comic Strip/Panel: “LA Olympic Games” by Annabel Braunstein 
• Second place, Broadcast News Story: On The Steps Episode 1: Community comes together in aftermath of LA fires by Verna Chen, Max Davis-Housefield, Nora Gallagher and Andre Salcido
• Third place, Informational Graphic: Navigating Korea: K-Drama Filming Locations by Ashley Choi and Gina Namkung
• Fourth place, Broadcast Sports Story: UCLA women’s gymnastics takes on Stanford by Nora Gallagher
• Fifth place, Sports Feature Story: Mateen Bhaghani blends pride, purpose to inspire young South Asian athletes by Ira Gorawara
• Fifth place, Broadcast Feature Story: Santa Anita donation drive unites community after wildfires by André Salcido
• Honorable Mention, Breaking News Story: Trump administration revokes visas of multiple UCLA, UC students by Alexandra Crosnoe
• Honorable mention, Feature Story: Are mushrooms magic? by Layth Handoush
• Honorable mention, Multimedia Feature Story: The Pad O’ Guys by Natalie Ralston, Armaan Dhillon, Hao Tam Tran and Helen Juwon Park
• Honorable mention, Interactive Graphic: Dishing It Out – A Closer Look at UCLA Dining’s Meal Plan Offerings by Ayushi Kadakia, L Yang, Hannah Um and Joey Ling
• Honorable mention, Sports Game/Action Photo: 3rd time’s a charm: Women’s Basketball Bests USC to Claim Big Ten Championship by Darlene Sanzon

Associated Collegiate Press Best of Show Awards

• Third place, Website (four-year campus, more than 15,000): Daily Bruin 
• Tenth place, Broadcast News Story: UCLA researchers discuss funding freeze by   Carolina Barsakov, Nora Gallagher and Hannah Morgan
• Tenth place, Magazine Design: Das brings authenticity through dance to gymnastics by Rachel Kristen Lee Yokota

College Media Association Pinnacle Awards

• First place, Audio Newscast: This Week: Nov. 29 by Daily Bruin staff
• First place, Breaking News Multimedia Coverage: January 2025 fires by Daily Bruin staff
• First place, Game Story: Wilted by heat: UCLA men’s basketball flatlined in season-ending loss to Tennessee by Connor Dullinger
• First place, Interactive/Motion Infographic: UCLA’s Food Trucks by Liam McGlynn and Noah Hrung
• First place, Newspaper Front Page: Pressure Points by Katie Azuma and Aidan Sun
• Second place, Sports Column: Ira’s Intuition by Ira Gorawara
• Second place, Newspaper Spread: Coachella 2025 by Mia Tavares and Darlene Sanzon
• Second place, Profile Story: PRIME: After the Fire by  Sam Mulick
• Third place, Series: In Plain Sight by Daily Bruin staff
• Third place, General News Story: ‘The program saved my life’: UCLA to eliminate Community Youth Programs by Alexandra Crosnoe
• Honorable mention, General News Photo: Pro-Palestine groups protest detainment of Columbia demonstrator Mahmoud Khalil by Zimo Li
• Honorable mention, Weekly Newspaper of the Year: Daily Bruin
• Honorable mention, News Photo Package: Los Angeles Dodgers parade downtown following 8th World Series victory by Michael Gallagher
• Honorable mention, Feature Photo Package: Coachella weekend 2 showcases variety of performances, excites festival goers by Darlene Sanzon
• Honorable mention, Editorial Cartoon: The Real Cost by Nia Nguyen
• Honorable mention, Photo Illustration: Voters must look past social media trends to understand politicians, platforms by Angelina Wu

LA Press Club National Arts and Entertainment Student Journalist Awards Finalists

• Best A&E news story: Theatre Palisades continues legacy of community, creativity after LA County fires by Warren Riley
• Best A&E photo: The “Ballad of Water” dance from the CCDC Lotus Steps performance by Selin Filiz
• Best A&E commentary: Technical Difficulties: The Onion buys InfoWars but is insufficient in bringing extremist media to tears by Martin Sevcik