The Los Angeles Times has earned 22 honors in the Los Angeles Press Club’s 16th annual National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards contest. The awards, which were presented at a ceremony on Dec. 3 in downtown L.A., recognize the finest work from U.S.-based entertainment reporters and editors, and theater, film and television critics across all media.
Among the highlights, Times Theater Critic Charles McNulty earned a first place award in the critic category for his reviews. “In his sharply and incisive written reviews, McNulty brings the reader into the theater with him, describing the action, acting, and feelings with enough detail to fully appreciate his assessments and commentary,” the competition’s judges wrote. In the same category, Food Columnist Lucas Kwan Peterson earned top honors for his food/culture commentary. “In telling his stories as if at a bar, Peterson’s engrossing details in the articles are absorbing and compelling,” the judges wrote.
Times Photographer Jay L. Clendenin won second place in the Photojournalist of the Year category and swept the news photo category with first- and second-place finishes.
Below is a list of The Times’ honorees by category.
Photojournalist of the Year
Second place: Jay L. Clendenin
Critic (Print, Broadcast or Online)
Film
Second place: Justin Chang
Theater/Performing Arts
First place: Charles McNulty
Art/Design
Third place: Christopher Knight
Food/Culture
First place: Lucas Kwan Peterson
Any Media Platform (Print, Broadcast or Online)
Celebrity Investigative
First place: Amy Kaufman, Jessica Gelt
Inside the blockbuster lawsuit threatening one teen YouTube star’s multimillion-dollar empire
Photography/Art (Print or Online)
News Photo
First place: Jay L. Clendenin, “Jamie for the WIN”
Second place: Jay L. Clendenin, “Sandy Skater”
Print/Online
Business, TV/Streaming related
First place: Josh Rottenberg, Jessica Gelt
‘We’re fighting for survival’: Writers on the picket line talk pay, family and how the strike is hitting home
Obituary/In Appreciation, TV/Film Personalities
Second Place: Meredith Blake, Yvonne Villarreal
Logan Roy, conservative media mogul who shaped contemporary politics, dies at 84
Third place: Charles McNulty
Appreciation: The genius of Angela Lansbury: She could play anyone
Obituary/In Appreciation, Music/Other Arts Personalities
Third place: Todd Martens
Rolly Crump, Disney designer who helped define the look of Disneyland, dies at 93
Diversity in the Entertainment Industry
Third place: Steven Vargas
This LGBTQ-affirming acting class is fostering ‘the new Hollywood’
Film Personality Profile – Under 2,500 Words
Second place: Mark Olsen
Daniel Craig needed his Bond to die so he could move forward: ‘I don’t want to go back’
TV Industry Feature – Over 1,000 Words
First place: Todd Martens
How ‘The Last of Us’ changed gaming, strained relationships and spawned an empire
Visual Arts/Architecture Feature – Over 1,000 Words
Third place: Deborah Vankin
A fire tore through Mission San Gabriel. Its museum now tells a more inclusive story
Creative/Performing Arts Feature – Over 1,000 Words
First place: Ashley Lee
Loud boos. Audible vomiting. How Broadway’s edgy ‘Oklahoma!’ fared across America
Columnist
First place: Mary McNamara
Commentary Analysis/Trend, Other Arts
First place: Deborah Vankin
A writer apologized to me — 23 years later. A ‘waterfall’ of memories ensued
Third place: Carolina A. Miranda
The ‘Sombrita’ bus shade controversy obscures an important story about women and transit
Broadcast
Documentary or Special Program, Short, under 30 minutes
Third place: Erik Himmelsbach-Weinstein, J.R. Lizarraga, Jessica Q. Chen, Steve Saldivar and Cody Long
Why ‘The Slap’ still matters, one year later
Online
Music Feature
First place: August Brown
Mars Volta’s lead singer broke with Scientology and reunited with the band. His battles with the church aren’t over
The full list of winners can be found at lapressclub.org.