Awards from L.A. and national press clubs
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Editor Russ Stanton’s memo:
Colleagues:
The kudos continue to roll in for the great work produced by our staff.
On Saturday, more than two dozen of our staffers were honored at the 50th annual Los Angeles Press Club awards. Among the highlights:
--Melissa Healy of the Health section was named Journalist of the Year for her stories showing the forces behind the marketing of pharmaceuticals and the influences on physicians and patients.
--Steve Lopez received the President’s Award for his Points West column, which the press club noted touches a wide variety of topics that tap into daily life -- from the shortcomings of the city school district to seeking solutions for Los Angeles’ dreadful traffic jams to his own early stirrings of religious awakening.
Staffers in Sports, Business, Features, Entertainment, Foreign, Opinion, California, Design, Photo, the Copy Desk and latimes.com also were honored for their work. For the complete list of winners, go to http://www.lapressclub.org/index.cfm/0/2008-Winners.cfm
In addition, “Danger in Tow,” a Los Angeles Times series about safety problems at U-Haul International Inc., won the National Press Club’s 2008 Consumer Journalism Award.
The three-part series by Alan Miller and Myron Levin, published last June, described how spotty maintenance and aging equipment put U-Haul customers at risk. In the best tradition of investigative reporting, the stories not only documented problems but helped solve them. After the series ran, U-Haul improved employee training and plugged holes in its maintenance system.
Alan and Myron recently left the paper, but others still among us played important roles in this project. Al Seib shot powerful photos and video. Raoul Ranoa produced vivid graphics, including an animated rendering of a devastating trailer crash. Michael Whitley and Kelli Sullivan showcased these elements in a memorable design. Anne Dillon copy-edited the stories and wrote superb headlines with help from slot Deirdre Edgar.
This project also took first place in the Business category of the LA Press Club awards, for papers with more than 100,000 circulation. Click here to find the series online.
These are tough times for our business, but these awards underscore the fact that the Los Angeles Times remains a special place that produces high-quality work.