Variety wins eight first-place awards at SoCal Journalism Awards

variety won eight first-place awards Sunday night at the Los Angeles Press Club’s 66th annual SoCal Journalism Awards, including a top win for executive editor Brent Lang as entertainment journalist of the year.

variety entered the 2024 ceremony with 74 nominations, representing work published by employees online or in the weekly print edition during the 2023 calendar year.

Lang led the staff wins list by picking up three awards in total. In addition to his entertainment journalist of the year trophy, Lang also won for personality/magazine profile for his Michael J. Fox cover story and shared the entertainment/TV feature award with Tatiana Siegel and Matt Donnelly for their story “Showstopper! The strikes are throwing Hollywood into chaos with expensive movie delays, pay battles and AI anxiety.”

Siegel was a double winner. In addition to sharing the final award with Lang, she also won in the news/entertainment magazine category for the story “A Fired ‘Scream Star, Clients Booted From Agencies and a Secret Tom Cruise Meeting: Inside Hollywood’s Divide Over Israel.”

Also winning two were Brian Steinberg, who took first place for TV Commentary/Analysis for “David Zaslav Likes to Gut Cable Networks — CNN Isn’t Easily Remodeled” and also Personality/TV Personality Profile for his story ” Streaming News Threw Kasie Hunt Some Curves – Now She’s Straightening Them.”

Selome Hailu won Personality/Film Personality Profile for the article “Lily Gladstone on Welcoming ‘Flower Moon’ Criticism, Mollie’s Agency and Scorsese’s Limitations While Telling an Osage Story.”

Chris Willman won the entertainment/arts commentary award for his opinion piece “Jason Aldean Already Had the Most Contemptible Country Song of the Decade — The Video Is Worse.”

Variety was also well represented, with second and third place awards announced for Jem Aswad, Daniel D’Addario, Clayton Davis, Peter Debruge, Jennifer Dorn, Sharareh Drury, Zoe Hewitt, Angelique Jackson, Haley Kluge, Zohar Lazar , Emily. Longeretta, Alexi Lumbomiski, Mary Ellen Matthews, Jenelle Riley, Rebecca Rubin, Michael Schneider, Ellise Shafer, Katcy Stephan, Victoria Stevens, Jazz Tangcay, Aramide Tinubu, and Adam B. Vary.

The 2024 awards were presented during a gala dinner attended by more than 500 journalists and guests in the historic Crystal Ballroom at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

A full list of first, second and third place winners from the SoCal Journalism Awards will be posted soon on the LA Press Club website. The organization said a record 2,300 entries came from LA-based publications and journalists this year.

In addition to the evening’s competitive awards, six esteemed journalists or public figures were honored with honorary or achievement awards throughout the 66th annual gala, including actress Jane Seymour (presented by Kevin Ryan), Amanda Salas of on Fox 11 (presented by Jerry O’Connell). ), Stephen A. Smith of ESPN, Mickey H. Osterreicher of the National Press Photographers Association (reported by Adam Rose), and Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal (reported by Judea Pearl). Gershkovich received the award in absentia because he remains in the custody of the Russian government, which has accused him of espionage.

The 2024 SoCal Journalism Awards were given “in loving memory” of two beloved local journalists who died this year. Ruth Ashton Taylor’s career dates back to the 1940s, before she made history as the first female West Coast news anchor. She died in January at the age of 101. Sam Rubin, weekday entertainment anchor on KTLA’s Morning News, died on May 10 at the age of 64.

The SoCal Journalism Awards are one of two awards shows presented by the Los Angeles Press Club each year. The other, the National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards, which honor work from across the U.S., will be held at the Biltmore on December 1, 2024.