LAist’s Nick Gerda named California Journalist of the Year

Nick Gerda, LAist’s watchdog correspondent whose investigative work exposing the scandal involving former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do inspired changes to state law, won journalist of the year at the Golden State Journalism Awards Contest on Wednesday.

The award, from the Sacramento Press Club, honors a single journalist whose work had a substantial impact on the state, including stories that hold the powerful accountable and uncover egregious wrongs committed against powerless populations.

Reaction from the reporter

Gerda said he's honored to receive the award and is grateful to his colleagues and LAist leadership who supported the search for truth every step of the way.

"My thoughts are with the needy seniors and people with disabilities in Little Saigon, Santa Ana and other areas of Orange County who did not receive meals from the nearly $8 million that Andrew Do later admitted was diverted from that purpose," he said.

"Thank you to the sources who trusted me, my editors Mary Plummer and Megan Garvey — and the community members who have followed this coverage, demanded answers and supported this work by becoming LAist members," he continued. "In the face of pushback, the truth ultimately prevailed.”

Nationally, Gerda also won first place in this year’s Dan Rather Medals for News and Guts, and the work was a finalist for an Investigative Reporters & Editors award.

How we got here

In November 2023, Gerda began investigating how millions of taxpayer dollars were spent.

LAist uncovered more than $13 million in public funds Do had quietly awarded to his daughter’s nonprofit, without disclosing she worked as a leader there. Most of the money came from federal COVID-relief funds earmarked to help seniors in need during the pandemic.

Do called for LAist to fire Gerda in a news release a few stories into the months-long investigation. Gerda was not fired and continued looking into the tax dollars that had gone unaccounted for through more than 90 public record requests and thousands of documents.

Less than a year later, LAist broke the news that federal agents were searching Do’s home in connection with the investigation. Do resigned as Orange County supervisor and agreed to plead guilty to a federal bribery charge.

Megan Garvey, editor in chief and senior vice president of news for LAist, said hard-hitting journalism matters, and doing that work takes time, commitment, resources and guts. She added that the news organization was "incredibly appreciative" of the award's honor.

“Nick never wavered in his efforts to get the truth of what was going on in Orange County, work that continues to this day,” Garvey said. “LAist's mission is to serve Southern Californians with reporting that makes a difference and this coverage did exactly that."

Prosecutors have called for the maximum five-year sentence for Do, referencing the disgraced former supervisor’s attacks on the media in recent court documents.