Best of the best: Press Democrat’s Kent Porter named national photojournalist of the year

Press Democrat visual journalist Kent Porter has been named Photojournalist of the Year (small market), by the National Press Photographers Association.

Porter earned the award in the still photography division for his overall contributions to visual journalism in 2021. Photojournalists stationed across the world participate in the annual competition.

“Working in Santa Rosa affords us the luxury of being able to cover four counties and even further. I love being able to show readers something they didn’t see on the nightly news or in another newspaper. It’s all about community for me,” Porter said.

Press Democrat Executive Editor Richard A. Green said Porter’s honor was well-deserved.

“This is, undoubtedly, a terrific, well-earned honor in one of the most prestigious global photojournalism competitions,” Green said.

The National Press Photographers Association is a 75-year-old organization that represents news photographers, videographers and multimedia journalists.

Porter was part of the Press Democrat team awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News for coverage of the 2017 North Bay fires. He has been a photojournalist with The Press Democrat since 1987.