The San Diego Press Club will present two career achievement awards for 2025 to a veteran television photographer and a respected public relations professional at its 52 annual Excellence in Journalism awards dinner on Tuesday, October 28, 2025.
Virginia (Ginny) Creighton, photographer for KGTV 10 News, is the winner of the Harold Keen Award for Outstanding Contributions in Journalism.
Julie Wright, president of downtown San Diego-based public relations firm (W)right On Communications, Inc., is the recipient of the Andy Mace Award for Excellence in Public Relations.
Both were nominated by colleagues and voted on by previous winners.
Harold Keen Award: Ginny Creighton
The Harold Keen Special Award is given to the journalist who has gone above and beyond standard practices for the sake of fairness and truth telling. Creighton has worked for KGTV for 45 years, her entire professional career.
Creighton is the daughter of a United States Navy pilot and United States Navy nurse. She earned a communications degree from Pepperdine University, and went to work at KGTV, first as an assignment editor. After what she describes as “decades” on the assignment desk, she shifted into her current role as a photojournalist.
In nominating Creighton, past Keen Award winner J.W. August called her work as an assignment editor “legendary.”
“There are few people of consequence in San Diego who are in or out of the news business who haven’t dealt with Virginia,” August said. “She’s been a key part of 10News coverage on so many big stories over the years. Always prepared, always on top of issues, she is the kind of journalist that would add value to any newsroom in the community.”
Added August: “After she left the desk she became a photographer, covering stories in the field with a knowledge of the community that few broadcast camera photographers can match. How she handles the citizens who are reluctantly put in the news spotlight is a gold plated example of her inherent honesty and compassion.”
Creighton said she is honored to receive the Keen Award. “There are so many deserving individuals in San Diego for this kind of honor,” she said. “Thank you…It’s pretty Keen.”
The award is named after pioneering San Diego print and broadcast journalist Harold Keen.
Andy Mace Award: Julie Wright
The Andy Mace Special Award is given to a PR practitioner who has exemplified fairness and integrity and has effectively disseminated the truth to the public.
Wright was nominated by previous winner Elizabeth Pecsi.
“I’m so honored by the nomination and touched to receive this award given what it stands for and those who’ve received it before me,” Wright said.
Wright has a graduate degree in journalism from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of B.C. She began her career as a journalist, working as a weekend news anchor for the FM radio station serving Whistler, B.C. Wright founded (W)right On Communications in her hometown of Vancouver, B.C. in 1998 and later expanded to San Diego and opened offices in Los Angeles and Seattle.
Over the years, (W)right On Communications has earned national recognition. The agency was named a PRNEWS 2026 Agency Elite, which represents the top 120 best and brightest PR and communications firms. Newsweek included her agency in its list of America’s Best Public Relations Agencies 2024.
Wright serves on the boards of the California Travel Association and publicly-traded Canadian biotech company Innovotech Inc. She formerly served as a trustee of the Tri-City Hospital Foundation, chair of the CSUSM President’s Council, chair and director of the San Diego North EDC, director-at-large of IABC Los Angeles and vice-president of the La Jolla Village Merchants Association.
For her community service, Wright received Leadership North County’s Fran Aleshire Award. She’s also been named on the San Diego Business Journal’s list of “Women Who Means Business,” one of “San Diego’s Best Marketing Executives” by San Diego Metropolitan, and “Communicator of the Year” by IABC San Diego.
For tickets to the October 28 awards dinner, go to: SDPC. SDSun
