The Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation, with support from the California News Publishers Association, created two annual journalism awards in 2024 to recognize the outstanding work from local journalists.

The Rising Star Award honors a journalist under age 30 (or with less than 5 years in the industry) who has worked for a valley media organization for at least a year and produced notable journalism in the previous year that indicates they will be a strong contributor to telling the valley’s story in the years to come. 

The Journalist of the Year Award honors a professional who has demonstrated excellence and high ethical standards in their coverage of issues in the Coachella Valley with journalism that had a significant impact on our community in the past year. 

Each of the journalism award winners received a cash prize underwritten by the California News Publishers Association.

Rising Star Award Recipients

2024

Runner-up: Kendall Balchan of the Palm Springs Post. Balchan was prolific in 2023, writing more than 300 articles or posts on a wide range of topics, from long-term AIDS survivors to intricate negotiations over the future of Desert Regional Medical Center. One of her nominators called Kendall’s work “informative and entertaining,” adding: “I especially enjoy journalism that covers the happier stories. Kendall’s enthusiastic approach brightens my inbox each day.”

Winner: Andy Abeyta of the The Desert Sun. From photographs of sports action to wildfires, portraits to drone photography and videography, Abeyta is extremely versatile. Yet amid this versatility is a consistency — drawing out emotion and humanity from even the toughest subjects.  

 Journalist of the Year Award Recipients

 2024

Runner-up: Christopher Damien of The Desert Sun. Damien is recognized for reporting on a particularly difficult subject — deaths in our county jails. In 2022, Damien uncovered a record number of jail deaths in the county and the sheriff’s department’s illegal failure to report some of them in a timely way. In 2023, that work’s impact spread, as the California attorney general launched a civil-rights probe of the sheriff’s department. Damien chronicled the human toll by speaking to the victims’ families. In some cases, they had never been told their relatives were hospitalized until it was too late. He also reported on the drug problems fueling some of the deaths, including fentanyl being smuggled into jail.

Winner: Rich Tarpening of Gulf California Broadcasting. When we think of journalism, we often think about reporters or photographers, in-the-field correspondents or news anchors. But behind the scenes are many dedicated editors and managers whose work every day makes the news happen. Tarpening is the Assignment Manager for Gulf California Broadcasting. He manages the daily newsroom operations and helps plan for short- and long-term news stories for KESQ, KDFX, CBS Local 2 and Telemundo 15. Rich oversees the News Channel 3’s I-Team, helping to plan and organize investigative reports. In 2023, those reports included probes into fentanyl deaths, malware attacks on College of the Desert that cost the school over $1 million, the dismissal of more than 1,700 cases in Riverside County courts, and school safety issues.