Times Wins 21 Press Club Firsts

The Los Angeles Times took 21 first place plaques Saturday at the Greater Los Angeles Press Club Southern California Journalism Awards, more than any other news organization.

The Times also received eight Awards of Excellence at the event, which was held at the Beverly Hills Hotel. In addition, The Times received awards for Overall Excellence in 1994 and 1995.

Warren Olney, who hosts the “Which Way L.A.?” radio show on KCRW-FM, won the Joseph M. Quinn Memorial Award, which recognizes continuing “high journalistic standards.”

Linda Deutsch, a senior Associated Press reporter, won the President’s Award, signifying “excellence in journalism throughout 1995.” Deutsch covered the O.J. Simpson trial for the Associated Press.

KNX-AM radio topped the radio category with 15 wins.

In the television news category, KCAL won 16 first-place awards and 15 awards of excellence.

The awards, for stories aired or published in 1994 or 1995, were hosted by Will Rogers, a columnist for the Leader Newspapers. Rogers won the award for the best “observational” column; the winning piece appeared in the Glendale News-Press.

Awards were given in 45 categories. Submissions were judged by press clubs across the country.

Finishing behind The Times in the daily print category was the Copley newspaper chain’s Daily Breeze, with 10 wins. Winners included Michael Cross-Barnet, Jim Farber and Mike Carroll.

Times winners included the following:

For Investigative Reporting--Single Subject: Valley Edition reporters Julie Tamaki, Henry Chu, Efrain Hernandez, Scott Harris, Donna Mungen, Josh Meyer, David Colker and Brett Collins.

In the Investigative Reporting--Body of Work category: Sara Fritz, David Willman, Allan C. Miller and Dwight Morris, all of the Washington, D.C., bureau, and Rich Connell. Receiving Awards of Excellence in that category were Jeffrey L. Rabin and Josh Meyer.

In Spot News Reporting: Jim Newton.

In the Editorial/Commentary category: Stephen Burgard. Richard E. Meyer and Josh Getlin won awards in the Feature Reporting category. For Specialty Feature Reporting: Christopher Reynolds.

In the Columns-Personal, Observational category: Peter H. King and Valley columnist Scott Harris. Mike Downey received an award in the Columns-Sports category.

In the Continuing Story or Series category: Valley Edition reporter John Johnson.

Rob Fernas won an award for Best Sports Reporting on a Single Story, as did Mary Ann Hudson. Bill Plaschke won an award for Sports Reporting--Body of Work category.

In the Business News Reporting category: Sallie Hofmeister, Jane Hall, James Flanigan and Amy Harmon.

In the Headline Writing category: Larry Harnisch and Steve Horn. In the Layout, Program Continuity category: the staff of The Times received an award for “Prosecution Rests.”

In the Columns-Business, Financial category: James Flanigan. Bill Boyarsky and Scott Harris won awards for Columns-Society Local Events. Kenneth Turan received an award in the Entertainment Reviews category, as did Christopher Knight.

In the Internal Publication category: Ariel Remler won an award for “Among Ourselves.”