L.A. Times Scores Multiple Honors in Sacramento Press Club Competition
Among the awards, Times Columnist Sammy Roth was named Journalist of the Year
The Los Angeles Times has earned three awards and five finalist nods in the Sacramento Press Club’s fourth annual Journalism Awards contest. The awards, honoring exceptional politics and policy journalism published in 2023, were presented at a dinner in Sacramento on April 11.
Among the top honors: Columnist Sammy Roth was named Journalist of the Year, which recognizes a California journalist whose work has had a substantial impact on the state. A team of Times staffers led by Roth also won the Environmental Reporting award for a package of stories in The Times’ ongoing “Repowering the West” series, which explores the challenges of renewable energy development in the region. In addition, Special Correspondent Brian Howey earned the Criminal Justice Reporting Award for his piece, “After police killings, families are kept in the dark and grilled for information.”
Monte Morin, The Times’ environment, health and science editor, lauded Roth for his latest achievements. “Like all great columnists, Sammy makes his job look way too easy, but his colleagues know just how hard he works and how meticulous he is in his reporting,” he said. “His ability to write about highly complex subjects in a simple, conversational tone that gets readers to care and reflect on their own choices is a real gift.”
Morin noted that 2023 “was a great year for Sammy and an even better one for his readers as he shed light on the cultural and political tug-of-war surrounding the placement of solar parks, the battle over hydropower in the American West, the nation’s largest wind farm, California’s ongoing efforts to wean itself off natural gas, and the state’s last nuclear power plant, among many other topics.
“Now, with the next installment of his ‘Repowering the West’ series set to launch next week, it doesn’t look like Sammy is about to slow down in 2024!” Morin added.
Roth said he was honored to be recognized by the Sacramento Press Club for his climate journalism. “But even more so, I’m grateful to see climate journalism spotlighted at a moment of such peril for our planet, and for human civilization,” he said. “March 2024 was the 10th straight month that Earth set a global heat record, and yet we continue to move far too slowly to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy, even in California. We need more climate journalism from environmental reporters, political reporters and journalists of all stripes. I’m thrilled to see the Sacramento Press Club highlight the urgency of that threat by recognizing my work, and to have The Times’ support through its continued investment in robust climate journalism.”
Roth added that he felt “lucky to work with an incredible team at Climate California, and with many other colleagues eager to lend their talents to this challenge.”
Below is a complete list of The Times’ winners and finalists:
Journalist of the Year
Winner: Sammy Roth
Impact in Journalism
Finalist: Melody Gutierrez, for her investigation into boxer pensions. Following Gutierrez’s initial report, the state stepped up efforts to find boxers eligible for pension money and sent out checks.
Daily Capitol Beat Reporting
Finalist: Taryn Luna, for her daily reporting on Gov. Gavin Newsom and California politics in Sacramento, including a revealing profile on Jennifer Siebel Newsom.
Criminal Justice Reporting
Winner: Brian Howey
Education Reporting
Finalists: Kevin Rector, Howard Blume, Mackenzie Mays, Laurel Rosenhall, Hannah Wiley and Priscella Vega, for a series of stories on California’s school board culture wars and the larger political forces at work.
Environmental Reporting
Winners: Sammy Roth, Robert Gauthier, Maggie Beidelman, Jessica Q. Chen, Jackeline Luna, Sean Greene, Gabrielle LaMarr LeMee, Paul Duginski and Brian van der Brug.
Housing and Unhoused Reporting
Finalist: Paloma Esquivel for a package of stories looking at the impact of complex housing laws on the lives of low-income tenants in Los Angeles.
Feature Photography
Finalist: Gina Ferazzi for a series of photos of the late U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein lying in state at San Francisco’s City Hall as mourners wished her goodbye.
For the full list of honorees, visit sacpressclub.org.
