Thanks to everyone who came out to The Sacramento Press Community All Star Party last night!  Below are some of the highlights from the party, which was held at Mayahuel:       Photo Credit: Photos by Tia Gemmell, Riverview Media Photography. See the complete album at PhotoTia.com.

It was a very tough decision to choose the winners of The Sacramento Press 2012 Journalism Open. Fifty-three community contributors shared 93 stories about the greater Sacramento area and the quality of submissions this year really impressed the judges. Thank you to all of you who made this year’s Journalism Open a success. The Sacramento Press judges were Casey Kirk, Director of Community Outreach, Brandon Darnell, Copy Editor and Reporter, and Colleen Belcher, Editor-in-Chief. Each story was judged on newsworthiness, research and sources, spelling and grammar and how interesting they were. Each winner could only win one prize. Click here to read the complete judging criteria. First

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to publish your first article, consider the rewards of doing it on The Sacramento Press. Last year we gave out thousands in cash prizes to winners of The Sacramento Press Journalism Open, and we’re ready to do it again. This is the third year that we’ve hosted The Sacramento Press Journalism Open. The contest is pro-am, meaning writers of all skill levels are welcome to enter. If you aren’t familiar with The Sacramento Press, we’re a hyperlocal online newspaper that focuses on community news. We aim to be the best source for local news and we would like you to help us achieve that by sharing your stories. No reporter knows more than you when it c

The results are in and we’re very excited to announce the winners of The Sacramento Press 2011 Journalism Open. More than 50 community contributors accepted the challenge to commit acts of journalism. In January, 134 entries were submitted, many by writers who are new to The Sacramento Press. Thank you to those of you who participated and those who helped spread the word about the contest. There were three Sacramento Press judges who reviewed the entries and determined the winners: Casey Kirk, Recruitment Manager, Brandon Darnell, Copy Editor and Reporter, and Colleen Belcher, Managing Editor. We were looking for stories with a minimum of two sources, stories that incorporated research

The procrastination must come to an end. There are only hours left to enter The Sacramento Press Journalism Open 2011. Entries must be published by 11:59 p.m. You must tag your article open2011. There are hundreds of dollars in prizes waiting to be doled out to the winners. First place prize is $700, second place is $500 and there are cash prizes for photos, too! If you would like to have your article copy edited, it must be sent to journalism@sacramentopress.com by 6 p.m. Any articles sent after 6 p.m. will have to be published without copy editing. One last thing: there are three judges for this year's contest. One of the judges changed from what we announced at the Journalism Open W

In case you missed the workshop Wednesday night, here are some of the answers to some of the questions asked and some tips shared by Sacramento Press Editor in Chief David Watts Barton and Managing Editor Colleen Belcher with community contributors about Journalism Open 2011 entries. Q: Are quotes a must? A: No, but as for some basic guidelines: They make your story stronger. The more you get people into your story, the more it helps – even if you’re doing an opinion piece, because the more sources you can point to, the better. Q: Is there a limit to how long the story is? A: The limit is how long it’s interesting. One thing to watch out for is when you talk to people who are good talker

The first Sacramento Press Journalism Open was a success, and we’re ready to do it all over again! We will have some exciting prizes for our top submissions, and your stories could be chosen for our section pages or newsletter for thousands to read and enjoy. Becoming a published writer is easier than you think, and we’re here to walk you through the process and get you committing acts of journalism. I'm David Watts Barton, editor in chief of The Sacramento Press, our area's top hyper-local news website, where we focus on up-close, in-depth coverage of neighborhoods like yours. We aim to spread the traditional habits of good journalism – accuracy, fairness and a diversity of opinion – ac

One of our goals here at Sacramento Press is to make our content as accessible as possible - and to do that, we've chosen a look very similar to a traditional newspaper. We've even tried to recreate the newspaper's division into sections - sports, politics, culture, etc. Those sections show up on the green bar that runs across the top of the Front Page of the Sacramento Press. We call it the "navigation bar," and it is designed to get you easily to the stories you want to read. To do that, we've listed our "sections" in the nav bar, one click of which will take you to a new page, laid out like the Front Page. But we may have gotten a bit ahead of ourselves. Although our content is growin

We're so glad you're interested in The Sacramento Press Journalism Open! Not only can you win some great prizes, you can also have an effect on your community and gain some skills in the bargain! Contributing to our site is quick and easy - we can show you everything you need to know to take the act of making journalism into your own hands! I'm David Watts Barton, the managing editor of The Sacramento Press, our area's top hyper-local, citizen-written news website, where we focus on up-close, in-depth coverage of neighborhoods like yours. We aim to spread the traditional habits of good journalism - accuracy, fairness and a diversity of opinion - across the Web. We do it with a mix of prof