The Hollywood Reporter earned 53 nominations for the 17th annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards, including best website and two noms for journalist of the year.
Seth Abramovitch was nominated for print journalist of the year, Mesfin Fekadu for online journalist of the year, Lovia Gyarkye for best film critic and Daniel Fienberg for best television critic. David Rooney was nominated for best theater and performing arts critic, and Fekadu was again nominated for best music critic.
In the celebrity investigation category, Gary Baum was nominated for his June 2024 story “Get Me Bryan Freedman!” which followed the entertainment power lawyer in his work with clients such as Megyn Kelly, Bethenny Frankel, Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon. THR‘s story “Will Ferrell on Navigating His Best Friend’s Transition in ‘Will & Harper’” was also nominated in the same category, with reporting from Seija Rankin, Jason Rovou, Stephanie Fischette and editors-in-chief Nekesa Mumbi Moody and Maer Roshan.
THR was also recognized for best portrait photo, best feature photo, best photo essay and best cover art, with the “Heat Vision,” “THR, Esq.” and “Live Feed” blogs each receiving nods as well.
Abramovitch’s “A Pellicano Target’s Second Act” was recognized for best business/tech/arts, and Fienberg’s “Critic’s Appreciation: Matthew Perry Masterfully Walked the Line Between Mirth and Melancholy” is up for best obituary/in appreciation of TV personalities.
Moody was also nominated for her story “Oprah and ‘The Color Purple’ Stars on the
New Musical Remake: ‘It’s Bright. It’s Vibrant. It’s Us’” in the diversity in the film/TV industry category, and Kim Masters’ story “Linda Yaccarino’s Very Unmerry X Mess” was recognized for best personality profile under 2,500 words. Abramovitch’s Cheryl Hines cover story and Fekadu’s Adele cover story also received nominations.
The awards will be handed out at a gala taking place Dec. 1 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Melissa Etheridge, Tiffany Haddish and Kevin Frazier will be honored at the event.
A full list of THR’s nominees follows. The complete list of finalists can be found here.
Print Journalist of the Year
Seth Abramovitch
Online Journalist of the Year — Tied to an organization
Mesfin Fekadu
Film Critic — Under 1,000 words
Lovia Gyarkye
TV Critic
Daniel Fienberg
Theater/Performing Arts Critic
David Rooney
Music Critic
Mesfin Fekadu
Celebrity Investigative
Gary Baum, “Get Me Bryan Freedman!”
Seija Rankin, Jason Rovou, Stephanie Fischette, Nekesa Mumbi Moody, Maer Roshan, “Will Ferrell on Navigating His Best Friend’s Transition in ‘Will & Harper’”
Portrait Photo, Music/Arts
Ash Barhamand, Ava Selbach, Peter B. Cury, Julia & Vincent, “Renee Rapp”
Feature Photo
Ash Barhamand, Ava Selbach, Peter B. Cury, Dan Winters, “Nathan Fielder + Emma Stone”
Photo Essay
Ash Barhamand, Ava Selbach, Naomy Pedroza, Peter B. Cury, Munachi Osegbu, “Hollywood’s Top Stylists”
Cover Art
Peter B. Cury, Zuzanna Rogatty, “The Oscar Issue”
Business, Tech/Design/Arts
Seth Abramovitch, “A Pellicano Target’s Second Act”
Obituary/In Appreciation, TV Personalities
Daniel Fienberg, “Critic’s Appreciation: Matthew Perry Masterfully Walked the Line Between Mirth and Melancholy”
Diversity in the Film/TV Industry
Nekesa Mumbi Moody, “Oprah and ‘The Color Purple’ Stars on the New Musical Remake: ‘It’s Bright. It’s Vibrant. It’s Us’”
Personality Profile, Music and Other Arts – Under 2,500 Words
Kim Masters, “Linda Yaccarino’s Very Unmerry X Mess”
Personality Profile, TV/Streaming Industry — Over 2,500 words
Seth Abramovitch, “Cheryl Hines … as First Lady? The ‘Curb’ Star on Life After Larry and Marriage to RFK Jr.”
Personality Profile, Music and Other Arts — Over 2,500 Words
Mesfin Fekadu, “Adele on Her Dream Hollywood Gig, Her Big Emotions and Volunteering at Her Son’s School: ‘The Kids Don’t Give a Flying F*** Who I Am’”
Film Industry Feature — Under 1,000 Words
Beatrice Verhoeven, Scott Feinberg, “As the Actors Strike Ends, Many Awards Contenders and Campaigners Are Scrambling to Make Up for Lost Time”
TV Industry Feature — Under 1,000 Words
Ryan Gajewski, “‘It’s a Dead End’: TV Writers Assistants Lose Hope for Post-Strike Career Advancement”
TV industry Feature — Over 1,000 Words
Lacey Rose, “Dan Harmon Is Ready to Talk About All of It (Including the Justin Roiland Drama)”
Music/Performing Arts Industry Feature — Under 1,000 Words
Mesfin Fekadu, “Dolly Parton on Turning Down the Super Bowl and Her New Rock Album: ‘I Don’t Want It to Be Half-Ass Country’”
Film Industry Feature — Over 1,000 Words
Scott Feinberg, “‘Schindler’s List’: An Oral History of a Masterpiece”
TV Industry Feature — Over 1,000 Words
Pamela McClintock, “Anderson Cooper on His Complicated Vanderbilt Legacy and CNN After Chris Licht”
Visual Arts/Architecture Feature — Over 1,000 Words
Gary Baum, “Museums Are Reckoning With Looted Art. Now It’s LACMA’s Turn”
Celebrity Feature
Rebecca Keegan, Katie Kilkenny, “Fran Drescher’s Role of a Lifetime”
Columnist — Print
Mesfin Fekadu
Commentary Analysis/Trend, Film
Lacey Rose, Lesley Goldberg, “Why Hollywood Is in the Throes of an IP Frenzy”
Commentary Analysis/Trend, TV
Lacey Rose, “Bonnie Hammer Is Calling Bullsh**”
Personality Profile, Film Personalities
Lesley Corral, Francesca Manto, Dominoe Ibarra, Lacey Rose, “Glen Powell Shares His Hollywood Firsts: From Singing ‘Unwritten’ To ‘Spy Kids’ Set, Twisters & More”
Hard News Feature — Under Five Minutes
Tiffany Taylor, Jason Bass, “SAG-AFTRA Strike: Actors Out in Full Force at Netflix, Disney & More on First Day”
Soft News Feature, Film — Over Five Minutes
Jason Rovou, Chris Gardner, Jason Bass, Nekesa Mumbi Moody, Maer Roshan, “Hollywood Atelier: Rob Pickens”
Documentary or Special Program, Feature, Film/TV (Over 30 Minutes)
Jason Rovou, Lacey Rose, Lesley Corral, Tiffany Taylor, Jason Bass, AMC+, “Off Script – Drama Actress Roundtable with Jennifer Aniston, Jodie Foster, Sofia Vergara, Nicole Kidman, Anna Sawai, Brie Larson and Naomi Watts”
One-on-One Interview, Film Personalities
Scott Feinberg, “‘Awards Chatter’ Podcast: Martin Scorsese on ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Blending His Past Films, the Marvel Controversy and Almost Directing ‘Schindler’s List’”
Best Arts or Entertainment Regular Podcast
Scott Feinberg, “Awards Chatter”
Hard News, Film
Mia Galuppo, Borys Kit, “Netflix Enters Its Dan Lin Era”
Hard News, Music/Arts
Mesfin Fekadu, “How Jason Aldean Cynically Built ‘Small Town’ to Appeal to Trump Country”
Soft News, TV/Streaming
Mesfin Fekadu, “Hulu’s ‘Under the Bridge’ Tells the Story of Reena Virk — and The Notorious B.I.G.”
Soft News, Film
Ryan Gajewski, “Animation at a Crossroads as Hope Mixes with Anxiety”
Diversity in the TV/Streaming Industry
Abbey White, “How The CW’s ‘Sight Unseen’ Built a Production For and Driven By Blind and Low Vision Creatives”
Diversity in the Music/Performing Arts Industry
Mesfin Fekadu, “Victoria Monét Reflects on Historic Win as First Black Woman to Earn Best Engineered Album Grammy”
Abbey White, “A Neuro-Inclusive Take on ‘Spring Awakening’: ‘We Don’t Need to Break People Down’”
Film Feature, Production/History
Katie Kilkenny, “Unmasking the AMPTP: Hollywood Labor’s Opaque Nemesis”
Columnist — Online
Mesfin Fekadu
Commentary Analysis/Trend, Film
Carolyn Giardina, “VFX Pros Expose The Hidden Costs of Selling a Movie as ‘Real’”
Lovia Gyarkye, “A New Wave of Films Experiments With How We See Climate Change”
Commentary Analysis/Trend, Other Arts
James Hibberd, “When a Ketamine Therapy Visit Goes Horribly Wrong”
Entertainment Website
The Hollywood Reporter Staff, THR.com
Entertainment Blog
Winston Cho, “THR, Esq.”
Aaron Couch, Borys Kit, “Heat Vision”
Lesley Goldberg, James Hibberd, Rick Porter, Jackie Strause, Etan Vlessing, “Live Feed”
Best Journalistic Use of Social Media to Tell or Enhance a Story
Mesfin Fekadu, “The Hollywood Reporter music articles told through Instagram Stories”
