News

KJZZ wins 5 PMJA Annual Awards for reporting in 2025

KJZZ | By Chelsey Heath

Published June 15, 2026 at 7:55 AM MST

Split photo of woman near microphone, power lines, an eviction notice and a person holding a protect oak flat sign

KJZZ has won five Public Media Journalists Association Annual Awards for coverage in 2025.

The awards were announced by PMJA on Monday.

The Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA) is a professional association for public media journalists in the United States. Membership includes over 130 local public radio newsrooms across the country. PMJA’s programs provide professional development, career support and networking opportunities to the over 1,800 journalists working at its member stations.

Enterprise

KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio won first place in Enterprise for his work in 2025 exploring the future of Oak Flat, sacred Apache land that is now home to one of the largest copper mines in the world.

Oak Flat: Past, Present, Future

Oak Flat — an area sacred to generations of Apaches — may soon be home to one of the largest copper mines in the world. A seven-part series from KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio, airing on 91.5 FM from March 17-21, explores the land's past, present and future.

Interview

KJZZ's The Show host Lauren Gilger won first place in Interview for her deep dive with Gina Swoboda, one of the political stories that helps to define the Trump era in Arizona.

The Show

Why Arizona GOP chairwoman Gina Swoboda went from Clinton Democrat to Trump loyalist

Lauren Gilger

Gina Swoboda is one of the political stories that helps to define the Trump era in Arizona. She sat down for a wide-ranging interview about her past and present with The Show.

Climate/Environment Feature

KJZZ Politics Desk correspondent Camryn Sanchez won second place in Climate/Environment Feature for her story about legislation in many Western states around the complicated relationship between wildfires and utilities.

The remains of Sam and Perry Drevo’s house that was destroyed in Oregon's Labor Day Fire in 2020.

Politics

Electric companies are fighting across the West to limit their blame for wildfires

Camryn Sanchez

In the wake of devastating Western wildfires, bills began cropping up in state legislatures — all striving to limit utility companies’ liability for causing wildfires.

Series

KJZZ senior field correspondent Katherine Davis-Young won second place in Series for her multipart coverage of Maricopa County's eviction crisis and how officials responded.

EVICTED: Maricopa County has an eviction problem. Not everyone agrees on how to solve it

Maricopa County had more eviction filings in 2024 than ever before — 87,130. From courtrooms to homeless shelters, the uptick in evictions is straining county's resources. But not everyone agrees on how to solve this growing problem.

Spot News

KJZZ Politics Desk correspondent Camryn Sanchez won second place in Spot News for a story examining how a social media post of southern Arizona teachers became a viral whirlwind.

A photo of Cienega High School teachers wearing the shirts was posted on social media.

Politics

Arizona teachers' costumes weren't about Charlie Kirk. They're facing death threats anyway

Camryn Sanchez

Math teachers at Cienega High School in southern Arizona are facing death threats and calls that they be fired after a Turning Point USA employee falsely accused them of wearing Halloween costumes mocking the assassination of the organization’s co-founder, Charlie Kirk.