Times is honored in L.A. Press Club awards

The Times was honored in several categories Sunday evening in the Los Angeles Press Club's 54th annual Southern California Journalism Awards:

Robert Faturechi and Jack Leonard won first prize for investigative series (large papers) for their coverage of abuses in the Los Angeles County jail system. In addition, Robert placed third in the competition for L.A. journalist of the year.

Tom Curwen was awarded first prize for news feature (large papers) for "Serving the dead," his profile of embalmers in Louisiana and a tragically young subject, one of his several stories last year on how society tends to the dead. Ashley Powers placed third for "Hostage to their pimps," set in Las Vegas, a hub of child prostitution.

It was a big night for our photo staff. Francine Orr was named photojournalist of the year for her work on the series "Discovering Autism." That work was recognized, as well, for best photo essay. Francine won first prize for entertainment photo for her portrait of actress Michelle Williams.

Gina Ferazzi won first prize for feature photo for an image of a driver whose car became stuck as a sandstorm swept through Palm Springs. She placed second in the news photo and photo essay categories for her coverage of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting.

Copy editor Rebecca Bryant’s "Sir! I have a broken leg, sir!" -- for a feature on the Marines' new strategy for dealing with injuries sustained in boot camp -- won first prize for headline (large papers). Laura Dominick placed second for "Always groom for one more," which accompanied a feature on a Nigerian faith healer who wed 107 women.

 

Winners of the L.A. Times' 2011 Editorial Awards

The Times' Editorial Awards for 2011, handed out in a ceremony Thursday night, honored what Editor Davan Maharaj called "the staples of our craft -- long-form feature writing, watchdog journalism and great photography ... also the creative and innovative digital journalism that is an increasing and vital part of what we do."

The winners: 

Beat Reporting (two winners): Robert Faturechi, for his coverage of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department. With 32 front-page stories, Faturechi exposed serious mismanagement in one of the nation's largest law enforcement agencies. He took readers from Beverly Hills, where the sheriff's wealthy friends got special investigations, to the grim warrens of the downtown Men's Central Jail, where deputies meted out "jail justice" with impunity. Because of Faturechi's reporting, the county assembled a commission to institute reforms, the Sheriff's Department created a task force to address systemic failings, and hundreds of surveillance cameras are being installed inside the jail.

Bill Shaikin, for his coverage of the Dodgers. Shaikin wrote 140 stories for The Times during 2011 on the Dodgers-McCourt-MLB saga, 11 of them on the front page. He also used Twitter during court proceedings to report developments in real time, putting readers in the courtroom. Among the dozens of stories he broke, Shaikin was first with the fact that Frank McCourt had taken out a $30-million personal loan from Fox to meet the team's payroll; first to report that MLB was going to seize control of the team; and first to report that the Dodgers were filing for bankruptcy protection.  

Breaking news: Times staff, for the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The Times covered the end of the 30-year Mubarak regime with a massive show of force. The coverage for the Feb. 12 print edition encompassed nine stories, including three on the front page, from 18 reporters and images from three photographers. The stories touched not only on the celebration in Tahrir Square, but also the mood in Cairo apartments, White House meeting rooms and the capitals of countries whose future also depended on those fateful events.

Opinion: Steve Lopez, who turned his father's declining health into a wider discussion about our culture's reluctance to confront death. His writing was plain-spoken in a way that felt like a conversation across the kitchen table. The columns elicited an outpouring of reader response, which he listened to and shared.

Winners of the L.A. Times' 2010 Editorial Awards

The Times' Editorial Awards for 2010 celebrate what Editor Russ Stanton called "an incredible year by any measure, an extraordinary one journalistically when we step back ... to honor the best work produced by one of the very best newsrooms on the planet."

The winners:

Beat Reporting (two winners): Jeffrey Fleishman, for his reporting from Egypt. Fleishman visited Egypt's economically depressed Nile Delta, spent time with the urban poor in Cairo and managed, with rich details and lyrical style, to tell readers what it was like to be inside the minds of the Egyptian people, tapping into a current of dissent broiling just under the surface.

Don Lee, for his coverage of the national economy from Washington, D.C. Lee told us how the slow start that young people are getting in the workforce will haunt them for years to come in the form of diminished lifetime earnings and paltry retirement funds. He explained that the biggest beneficiaries of much-heralded U.S. manufacturing incentives might actually be overseas. And when consumer spending finally began to show signs of life last year, he warned us that too much of that increase was coming from the rich, a sign of an uneven recovery.

Breaking News: Haiti earthquake -- Reporters Tina Susman, Tracy Wilkinson, Joe Mozingo and Ken Ellingwood and photographers Carolyn Cole, Rick Loomis and Brian van der Brug. From the first-day story, which correctly identified the sweep of the disaster, to the gut-wrenching street scenes that followed, the reporting and photography detailed the breadth of destruction as well as the diplomatic efforts to marshal relief. 

Investigations: Bell -- Ruben Vives, Jeff Gottlieb, Kim Christensen, Paloma Esquivel, Paul Pringle, Robert J. Lopez, Hector Becerra, Corina Knoll, Richard Winton, Christopher Goffard. For their series of stories exposing officials' exorbitant salaries and financial misdeeds in the small working-class town of Bell. The Times' stories sparked legislative reform efforts aimed at public pay and pension abuses, including a bill that would require California's city, county and schools officials to disclose their compensation online.

Times wins RFK Award for Haiti coverage

Editor Russ Stanton sent the following award announcement to the newsroom:

The Pulitzer Prizes we celebrated yesterday honored our coverage of events in our own backyard.

Today brings further recognition -- this time for our foreign reporting.

Our coverage of last year’s devastating earthquake in Haiti has won a 2011 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award.

The Times’ winning entry in the international print category showcased the work of reporters Joe Mozingo, Scott Kraft, Tracy Wilkinson, Tina Susman, Ken Ellingwood and Mitchell Landsberg and photographer Liz Baylen.

The RFK Award recognizes “outstanding reporting on human rights, social justice and the power of individual action.”

All were themes of our reporting on the disaster in Haiti. Among the highlights were Joe’s heart-rending story about a mother’s quest to save her child from a cholera epidemic, Scott’s piece on an 11-year-old street urchin surviving on wits alone in the days after the quake, and Liz’s gallery of still and video images that showed how one survivor struggled to master an artificial leg and then rebuilt his ruined home with scraps of wood and sheet metal.

Please join me in toasting these colleagues and their distinguished work.

 

Barbara Davidson wins Pulitzer for feature photography

Barbara Davidson wins the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for "Caught in the Crossfire." 

[Updated, 1:30 p.m.: Here is the Pulitzer board's award citation.]

Times wins Public Service Pulitzer for Bell coverage

The Times staff has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the city of Bell salary scandal.

The series -- "Breach of Faith," led by Jeff Gotlieb and Ruben Vives -- also won an IRE medal, a George Polk Award for local reporting, the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting and the Los Angeles Press Club’s first-ever Public Service Award.

[Updated 1 p.m.: Here is the award citation from the Pulitzer board.]

Photos: Jeff Gottlieb (left); Ruben Vives. Credit: Los Angeles Times

 

James Rainey wins media criticism award

Editor Russ Stanton sent the following award announcement to the newsroom:

Congratulations to Jim Rainey, who today was named the winner of the 2010 Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism by Pennsylvania State University for a series of columns about the deteriorating quality of local TV news.

The award recognizes distinguished contributions to the improvement of print and broadcast journalism through responsible analysis or critical evaluation. The judges praised Jim for shedding light on the practice by local stations of passing off paid advertisements as news, without the proper notification required under law.

“He took on an issue that deserved attention and what he did made a difference,” the judges said. “His work led to action.”

Jim’s series led to the departure of the news director of one network affiliate in Los Angeles and prompted a public interest group to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission.

The Bart Richards Award, presented annually by the College of Communications at Penn State, was established in 1994 in memory of a longtime Pennsylvania newspaper writer and editor who advocated for journalistic ethics and responsible community journalism.

Past winners include Columbia Journalism Review, PBS’ “Frontline,” Byron Calame of the New York Times and Sydney Schanberg of the Village Voice. Jim, the first Los Angeles Times journalist to win the award, will be recognized at a ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington next month.

 

Bell coverage wins IRE Medal

Editor Russ Stanton sent the following award announcement to the newsroom:

Team Bell keeps raking in the honors.

This time, it’s another biggie: the IRE Medal.

Here’s what the judges at Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc. had to say in giving the organization’s top honor to Jeff Gottlieb, Ruben Vives and a posse of Times colleagues:

“At a time when many news organizations are pulling back and reducing coverage of outlying cities, the Los Angeles Times uncovered a story of incredible greed in one of the state’s poorest towns….The impact of the series has been far-flung, including resignations, arrests and the refund of $2.9 million in overpaid taxes and fees.”

Along with Jeff and Ruben, who got the ball rolling on Bell, the judges recognized Kim Christensen, Hector Becerra, Corina Knoll, Robert J. Lopez, Paloma Esquivel, Paul Pringle, Jessica Garrison, Richard Winton, Scott Gold, Kim Murphy, Shelby Grad, Steve Marble, Kimi Yoshino, Megan Garvey and Maloy Moore.

Another signature Times project, “Grading the Teachers,” was one of four finalists for the IRE Medal. The judges recognized Jason Felch and Jason Song, along with Doug Smith, Sandra Poindexter, Ken Schwencke, Julie Marquis, Beth Shuster, Stephanie Ferrell and Thomas Lauder.

The Bell coverage previously won a George Polk Award for local reporting, the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting and the Los Angeles Press Club’s first-ever Public Service Award.

Congratulations to all.

'Grading the Teachers' wins Scripps Howard public service award

Editor Russ Stanton announced the following honors from the Scripps Howard National Journalism Awards:

Jason Felch, Jason Song, Doug Smith, Sandra Poindexter and Ken Schwencke on Friday were named winners of the public service award in the 57th annual Scripps Howard National Journalism Awards program for their groundbreaking series, "Grading The Teachers."

The judges said the project "involved both sophisticated data analysis and good old-fashioned reporting. A team of Times reporters looked at one of the most vexing questions in education today: how to identify effective and less-than-effective teachers. The Times conducted a "value added" analysis of teacher performance based on how students progressed year to year. It also sent reporters into more than 50 classrooms while other reporters spoke to teachers, administrators and parents. The Times then made all the data public and within hours, more than 200,000 Los Angeles residents logged on to see how their children's teachers rate. The series was a tremendous public service that shined a light on an important issue."

In addition, national reporter Faye Fiore was a finalist for the program's prestigious Ernie Pyle Award for human interest writing for her moving series on how the families of U.S. soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country are dealing with their loss. And freelancer Ted Rall was a finalist in editorial cartooning.

Laura Dominick wins again in ACES headline contest

Editor Russ Stanton announced the following awards from the American Copy Editors Society:

For the second consecutive year, and the third time in the past five years, Laura Dominick of the Foreign desk won the individual prize for headline writing for large newspapers from the American Copy Editors Society. In addition, our copy desk won honorable mention in the group competition for headlines. The results were announced Thursday at ACES' annual conference in Phoenix.

Of Laura's work, the judges said: "Dominick's work is nuanced and sensitive. Without leaning on major league puns, she writes subtly funny headlines that compel readers to jump into those stories. And extra kudos for some brutal one-column counts to boot. Laura's headlines relay a comfortable, relaxed feel that are compelling."

The group entry included headlines by Laura, Paul Ybarrondo, Dave Bowman, Blake Hennon, Linda Whitmore, Mike Davis and Aisha Khan. Said the judges: "The Los Angeles Times portfolio displays maximum impact with a brevity of words. 'Surrounded by her son' works perfectly with the art, and it mirrors the poignancy of the story. And 'Toto recall' about possible 'Wizard of Oz' film projects is wizardry with two words."

The winning headlines are after the break...

Gottlieb, Vives, staff win Polk Award for Bell reports

Times Editor Russ Stanton sent the following memo to the newsroom, congratulating Jeff Gottlieb, Ruben Vives and the staff for their reporting on the city of Bell:

Congratulations to Jeff, Ruben and the 25-plus-member Bell crew, who tonight were named winners in the local reporting category in the 61st annual George Polk Awards.

The judges called the reporting "explosive," noting that city officials were receiving some of the highest salaries in the country despite the fact that they were leading one of the poorest cities in Los Angeles County, and that they had bilked residents of millions of dollars and secretly enriched themselves, even as they cut services and fired workers. As you know, eight current or former city officials have been arrested on corruption charges, and the state controller's office has ordered municipalities to post the salaries of officials on the Internet.

The Polks, one of the most prestigious awards programs in journalism, are named after the former CBS News correspondent, who was killed while covering the civil war in Greece in 1948. They are administered by Long Island University.

Tonight's award is the 18th won by the Los Angeles Times since the Polk program began in 1949. Five other current staffers are previous Polk winners: Paul Pringle for labor reporting in 2008, Ken Weiss for environmental reporting in 2006, Carolyn Cole for photojournalism in 2004, Don Bartletti in the international category in 2002 and Tracy Wilkinson for foreign reporting in 1998. In addition, this newsroom’s staff won awards for political reporting in 1996 for tracing funding from Asian sources to the coffers of the Democratic National Committee, some of which was in violation of federal law, and for local reporting in 1992 for coverage of the Los Angeles riots.

 

ASNE honors Bell coverage, Davidson photos

Times Editor Russ Stanton announced the following awards in a note to the newsroom:

Congratulations to "Team Bell" and photographer Barbara Davidson on well-earned recognition from the American Society of News Editors.

Team Bell won the ASNE Distinguished Writing Award for Local Accountability Reporting for exposing exorbitant salaries and flagrant financial abuses in the city of Bell. Barbara won in the Community Service Photojournalism category for her moving portraits of victims of gang violence.

The Los Angeles Times was the only news organization to win more than one award.

The judges cited our Bell entry, "Breach of Faith," for its "relentless reporting on the shockingly exorbitant salaries paid to officials of the small suburban city of Bell, Calif., and on those officials' arrogant disregard for the public welfare."

Team Bell, as you know, began with Jeff Gottlieb and Ruben Vives and quickly expanded to include about one-quarter of the Metro staff. The coverage, which is now in its eighth month, has led to the arrest of eight current and former officials, millions of dollars in tax refunds and tough new disclosure requirements for California cities.

Barbara's project, "Victims of Gang Violence," ran over three days in December. It produced a stunning series of images charting the suffering and perseverance of innocent people caught up in gang violence.

The ASNE judges praised her "absorbing examination of the effects of gang violence on the innocent: those wounded or killed because of a quarrel in which they had no part, victims lying in hospital beds or relatives and friends standing by their loved ones' coffins or sitting all alone asking, 'Why?' Though Davidson's wrenching photographs cannot answer their question, they are a masterful reminder that gang violence is not just hoodlum against hoodlum but a very real threat to those who would have no part of it but are not given a choice."

In addition, Christopher Goffard was a finalist in the Non-Deadline Writing category for "Four Walls and a Bed," his gripping series on L.A’s hard-core homeless.

ASNE officials said the 2010 contest was one of the most competitive in recent memory, with a 30% increase in the number of entries from last year. The awards will be presented at the organization’s convention in San Diego in April.