1. Camilla Mortensen, editor, Eugene Weekly, EugeneWeekly.com.

2. Brian Bull, reporter, KLCC & Buffalo’s Fire, Klcc.org, BuffalosFire.com. 

3. Tiffany Lewis, KVAL, CBS Channel 13, Kval.com.

For Eugene Weekly’s own Camilla Mortensen, love of story has been a driving force. With a background in folklore, her background in interviewing and analyzing information gave her the courage to apply for a position at Eugene Weekly in 2007, “because on some level, journalism is always, in the end, telling the story,” according to Mortensen. When the Weekly’s embezzlement was discovered nearly two years ago, a disheartening moment of co-worker betrayal became a heartwarming experience of local and national outreach. “We thought we were done for at the newspaper, and the community and people across the country came back and fundraised and supported and offered help,” Mortensen says. “It tells you that you’re doing something right as a news source, and it tells you that people value a community newspaper in this day and age, despite all the things that newspapers and journalists are up against.” 

Brian Bull took second place. “I am from a Native American background, and when I grew up in rural Idaho, there was so much prejudice and bigotry that I encountered growing up that I was trying to find ways to address it,” he says. “I eventually reasoned that people who are bigoted or prejudiced have misconceptions that they’ve been fed since birth.” Bull adds, “I think journalism is a great way to share and uplift voices from underrepresented communities.” A journalist for only a couple of years, Tiffany Lewis has already learned a lot about working in media and herself from her bosses at KVAL, whom she has come to see as mentors. Completely new to the field when she started at KVAL in fall 2022, her reporting has included coverage of CAHOOTS’s closure, homeless encampment sweeps and the experiences of Jewish students on the University of Oregon campus. Though still early in her career, she’s “learned that it’s really important to remember that you’re representing the station that you work for, and you’re kind of representing journalism as a whole when you cover certain things.”