A group of people sitting and standing inside looking at the camera
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors commended San José Spotlight for its dedication to empowering residents with accurate information vital to everyday lives on Sept. 9, 2024. Photo by Jen Morrow.

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors has commended San José Spotlight for its commitment to providing accurate and critical information on issues affecting county residents.

The commendation, presented on Monday by Supervisor Otto Lee, recognizes this news organization’s dedication to empowering residents, boosting transparency and igniting civic engagement. The honor covers San José Spotlight’s work over the past five years since its 2019 founding, including comprehensive homelessness coverage, in-depth reporting on the fight to keep Regional Medical Center open, coverage of a potential San Jose city worker strike over higher wages and its coverage of the 2021 VTA mass shooting.

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The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors has commended San José Spotlight for its devotion to providing accurate and critical information about issues affecting county residents. Learn more about our nonprofit newsroom — and how you can support our work — at SanJoseSpotlight.com. #nonprofitnews #journalism #localjournalism #localnews #santaclaracounty #siliconvalley

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Lee said San José Spotlight has strengthened democracy in the county since it began covering the community. Santa Clara County commends organizations and individuals who do something noteworthy that benefits residents.

“Through its vigilant and steadfast commitment to San Jose and the surrounding areas, San José Spotlight has uplifted marginalized voices, holds power to account and paves the way for change,” he said at the Monday meeting.

The commendation adds to this news organization’s other recognitions, including the prestigious James Madison Award for its successful lawsuit against San Jose and former Mayor Sam Liccardo, who is now running for Congress, for violating state transparency laws and improperly withholding public records. San José Spotlight also won four first-place awards this year in the annual California Journalism Awards for covering stories such as a San Jose police union office manager hit with drug smuggling charges and the effects of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse on everyday business owners and nonprofits.

Moryt Milo, San José Spotlight editor, said the organization remains dedicated to its mission of providing fearless journalism that disrupts the status quo by sharing vital community stories.

“We will be out there every day covering the stories that matter, telling the stories that go untold and reinvigorating our community and their engagement because we strongly believe that reporting the news, especially local news, is a fundamental cornerstone of democracy,” she said at the meeting.

San José Spotlight is the region’s first nonprofit newsroom covering San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, the West Valley and the county.
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Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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