L.A. Times Captures 15 Honors, Including Best in Show, in the National Headliner Awards
The Los Angeles Times has won 15 awards, plus best in show in the National Headliner Awards competition. The awards were announced on Wednesday, May 12. Founded in 1934 by the Press Club of Atlantic City, the National Headliner Awards is one of the oldest and largest annual contests recognizing outstanding journalism.
Among the honors, Times Foreign Correspondent and Photographer Marcus Yam and the late Photo Editor Alan Hagman took both first place and best in show for Yam’s photography portfolio, “The Long Road: An Exodus from Venezuela,” which chronicled the trek of a group of Venezuelan migrants. The competition’s judges called the photographs “powerful” and noted that the portfolio “captures layers of agony on human sufferings. Each image was compelling and storytelling.”
In addition, National Correspondent Kurtis Lee won first place in the news series category for his stories about how the country’s largest Native American reservation was mounting a frantic effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The judges called the series “a well-told tale, that is at once, both startling and heartwarming.”
In the course of his reporting, Lee said he was “amazed by the resilience and openness” of the people he met, including a Navajo Nation police officer and two contact tracers who traveled hundreds of miles to slow the spread of the virus. He marveled that, “During one of the most stressful times of their life, they allowed me to observe their lives.”
Below is a list of The Times’ honorees by category.
News series in daily newspapers top 20 media market
First Place: Kurtis Lee, “A Native American community and a virus”
Breaking news in daily newspapers, all sizes
Second Place: Los Angeles Times staff, “Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna among 9 dead in helicopter crash in Calabasas”
International news beat coverage or continuing story by an individual or team
Third Place: Shashank Bengali, “The Thai monarchy in crisis”
Local interest column on a variety of subjects
Third Place: LZ Granderson
Education writing by an individual or team
First Place: Los Angeles Times staff, “The new reality of school”
Environmental writing by an individual or team
Second Place: Rosanna Xia, “A toxic secret lurks in deep sea”
Investigative reporting in newspapers in top 20 media market
Second Place: Kiera Feldman, “Fumed out”
Public service in newspapers in top 20 media market
Third Place: Los Angeles Times staff, “Our Reckoning With Racism”
Sports action or sports feature photography
First Place: Wally Skalij, “An emotional tribute to Kobe Bryant”
Second Place: Robert Gauthier, “Champs”
Third Place: Robert Gauthier, “Freeze Tag”
Individual photo portfolio
First Place and Best in Show: Marcus Yam and Alan Hagman, “The Long Road: An Exodus from Venezuela”
Second Place: Robert Gauthier
Online video up to three minutes
First Place: Steve Saldivar, “Surviving the shutdown: Among the L.A. taqueros”
Online video 10 to 30 minutes
Third Place: Jackeline Luna, Maggie Beidelman and Tyrone Beason, “How a nearly all-white Iowa city is trying to shed its racist image”
To view the full list of winners, visit www.headlinerawards.org.
