On Sunday night, the Los Angeles Press Club presented the 68th annual Southern California Journalism Awards, marking Variety’s 16th No. 1 win.
Variety magazine’s top finish also included music critic Jem Aswad’s award for music criticism. Owen Gleiberman, movie criticism in 1,000 words or less. TV critic Aramide Tinubu. The accolades were awarded during a lengthy ceremony at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
Variety received 100 mentions and entered the night as the top overall nominee. The Southern California Journalism Awards span print newspapers, magazines, television, radio, digital news outlets, radio, podcasting and social media. Variety’s victory was widely circulated among the industry’s largest editorial staff dedicated to reporting on the business of entertainment.
Variety’s other first place winners are:
Selome Heil in a feature under 1,000 words: “How Planned Parenthood’s Karen Spruch teams up with Lena Dunham and other creators to delicately portray abortion on screen.”
Brent Lang, Online Film/Broadcast Feature: “Doc-filled with controversy and post-Sundance legal threats, ‘The Stringer’ questions the origins of the iconic ‘Napalm Girl’ photo”
Trish Deitch Personality Profile: “‘I Can’t Be Me’: Jamie Lee Curtis’ 47-Year Career, Why She Fell in Love with Christopher Guest, and Why Charlie Kirk Hopes He’s Found God.”
Personality Profile, Elise Shafer on Music and Arts Personality: “Diana Silvers Follows Folk Heroes with Debut Album ‘From Another Room’ and Speaking Truth to Power: ‘If Your Art Doesn’t Frighten You, It’s Not Really Worth It’ (Exclusive)”
Entertainment photo by Richard Phibbs, Jennifer Dorn, Jennifer Halper: May 2025 Cover “A$AP Rocky”
Daniel Daddario thanks movie and TV personality for passing away: “Hollywood’s humanist: Rob Reiner was a talented collaborator who understood why we tell stories.”
KJ Yossman in Consumer News or Features: “BBC Crisis Explained: How the beloved British broadcaster fell into the worst scandal in its 100-year history and what’s next.”
Kate Orser (Film Features, Production History): “Bravo boss Frances Berwick talks about the ‘joy’ of BravoCon and who the network will tolerate (Karen Huger!) and who it won’t (probably Jen Shah).”
Naman Ramachandran, Theater and Arts Feature: “‘MJ The Musical’ Star Jamal Fields-Green talks about the ‘huge responsibility’ of playing Michael Jackson on stage”
Ethan Shanfeld’s music feature, “Inside the Diddy Trial Circus: How Screaming Fans, Baby Oil, and Street Preachers Turned the Courtroom into a House of Madness.”
Ramin Setoude (Entertainment Features, TV/Streaming): “Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri aren’t holding back: ‘After the Hunt’ stars make this year’s most provocative film.”
Brian Steinberg (Culture News/TV Features): “CBS is giving the Evening News a major overhaul. People need to watch it now.”
Brian Steinberg of Business Report: “TV news faces creator disruption as anchors chase digital dreams that bring big bucks (or little return).”
Gleiberman also placed second in the category of movie reviews of 1,000 words or more. Mr. Steinberg took second place in the Online Journalist of the Year category, and Mr. Daddario also took second place in the Print Journalist of the Year category.
At the ceremony, Rob Fukuzaki, a veteran KABC television sportscaster in Los Angeles, was presented with an honorary award for his lifetime achievements. Singer Kenny Chesney for public service. NBC News’ Craig Melvin evaluates social influence. and Carol Sobel, a civil rights attorney who defends journalists.
Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa received the club’s Daniel Pearl Award for extraordinary courage in the face of adversity and for her contributions to journalism. Ressa, a campaigner for press freedom and investigative reporting in her native Philippines, chilled the audience with her story of years of investigating Southeast Asia’s ties to the al-Qaeda terrorist organization responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the brutal murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in January 2002.
Ressa warned the room of the region’s top journalists about what she called the “Filipinization of America” and urged them to “hold the line” on First Amendment rights and protections. She cited her own experience of facing 11 separate prosecutions in her home country for her work as a journalist. Ressa said she would need permission from the U.S. Supreme Court to travel to Los Angeles to receive the award in person. But her main tormentor, former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested last year on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
“I’m in front of you,” Ressa told the crowd. “He is currently awaiting trial in a prison in The Hague.”
Ressa pointed to Pearl’s tragic death and said it is often on her mind as she works in a dangerous profession. These are equally dangerous times for journalists, given that the media is under attack in so many countries and public trust in journalism is declining. After all, journalists must have courage in doing their jobs in what Ressa called “information Armageddon.” Pointing to the alarming proliferation of misinformation and outright “lies,” Ressa said journalists must ask themselves “what are we willing to sacrifice for the truth?” “
(Top photo: After the Hunt stars Michael Stuhlbarg, Ayo Edebiri, Chloë Sevigny, Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield photographed for Variety’s September 2025 cover story on the Luca Guadagnino film)
