Los Angeles Times sports staff wins fourth consecutive APSE grand slam
The Los Angeles Times staff won the prestigious Associated Press Sports Editors’ grand slam, a best-in-show award presented to publications that place in the top 10 across four major competition categories.
The Times was the only publication to earn a grand slam in the largest circulation category for work completed in 2023. It is the staff’s fourth consecutive grand slam honor.
To secure the grand slam, The Times placed in the top 10 in print portfolio, digital, projects and event coverage. In the digital category, The Times also earned excellence in video recognition for a short documentary about Kade West, a deaf and autistic basketball player who inspired his coach and teammates at Cerritos College. Erik Himmelsbach-Weinstein, Mark E. Potts, Cody Long and Bill Plaschke collaborated on the video.
Basketball saved Kade West, but it was briefly taken away. Watch this video examining the deaf, autistic Cerritos College athlete’s journey.
Overall, The Times finished in the top 10 in seven categories.
Ryan Kartje was recognized in the beat writing category for his coverage of USC and the breaking news category for his work chronicling the resignation of USC athletic director Mike Bohn.
Plaschke placed in the top 10 in the columns category for the 12th consecutive year and 21st time overall.
The Times’ coverage of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Los Angeles Country Club, including a hole-by-hole video preview utilizing drone footage, was recognized in the projects category. The project entry featured work by Sam Farmer, Potts, Himmelsbach-Weinstein, Steve Henson and Chris Stone.
Mike Bohn’s resignation comes a day after The Times asked him and USC about internal criticism of his management of the athletics department.
The Times’ coverage of the Dodgers’ loss to the Diamondbacks in the NLDS placed in the top 10 in event coverage. Jack Harris, Plaschke, Dylan Hernández, Jorge Castillo, Mike DiGiovanna, Bill Shaikin, Houston Mitchell and Potts all contributed to the event coverage entry.
The order of finish in the individual writing categories will be announced at a later date.
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