Los Al's Bella Kim is Runner-Up for CA Journalist of the Year

Bella Kim of Los Alamitos High School. ( Photo Courtesy of Bella Kim)

​Bella Kim of Los Alamitos High School has been awarded a $500 scholarship by the Southern California JEA as runner-up for the 2025 California Journalist of the Year. 

Kim is set to attend Stanford University where she plans to study journalism. She was editor-in-chief of the Griffin Gazette for two years and won five Best of School Newspaper Online awards during her three years with the Gazette. As a freshman, Bella was a finalist and honorable mention in The New York Times' high school profile contest. She's also interned with The Youth Center and Spotlight Schools. 

In 2023, CalMatters and the Asian American Journalists Association selected her to participate in their summer program, JCal, and she reported for CalMatters' South Bay Youth Journalism initiative last year., Bella received a scholarship to represent California at the 2024 Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference in Washington, D.C.