Variety Wins 16 Southern California Journalism Awards

Variety won 16 first-place awards on Sunday night as the Los Angeles Press Club gave out the 68th annual Southern California Journalism Awards.

Variety's top wins included awards for music criticism, won by music editor Jem Aswad; film criticism under 1,000 words, won by Owen Gleiberman; and TV criticism, won by Aramide Tinubu.

These awards were given during a long ceremony held at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Variety entered the night as the top nominee with 100 total mentions.

The Southern California Journalism Awards include print newspapers and magazines, TV, radio, and digital news outlets, as well as radio, podcasts, and social media.Variety's wins were spread out across their large editorial team, which is the biggest in the industry focused on entertainment business news.

Other first-place winners from Variety included:

Selome Hailu for a feature under 1,000 words titled "How Planned Parenthood's Caren Spruch Works With Lena Dunham and Other Creatives to Sensitively Portray Abortion on Screen"

Brent Lang for a film/broadcast-related feature online titled "Controversy Swirls, Legal Threats Fly After Sundance Documentary 'The Stringer' Questions Origin of Iconic 'Napalm Girl' Photo"

Trish Deitch for a personality profile titled "'I Can't Not Be Who I Am': Jamie Lee Curtis on Her 47-Year Career, Falling in Love With Christopher Guest and Why She Hopes Charlie Kirk Found God"

Ellise Shafer for a personality profile, music and arts personalities titled "Diana Silvers on Her Debut Album 'From Another Room' and Following Folk Heroes by Speaking Truth to Power: 'If Your Art Doesn't Scare You, It's Not Really Worth It' (EXCLUSIVE)"

Richard Phibbs, Jennifer Dorn, and Jennifer Halper for an entertainment photo titled the May 2025 cover "A$AP Rocky"

Daniel D'Addario for an obituary appreciation for film and TV personalities titled "Hollywood's Humanist: Rob Reiner Was a Gifted Collaborator Who Understood Why We Tell Stories"

K.J.

Yossman for consumer news or feature titled "BBC Crisis Explained: How the Beloved U.K.Broadcaster Walked Into One of the Worst Scandals in Its 100-Year History — and Where It Goes From Here"

Kate Aurthur for a film feature, production histories titled "Bravo Boss Frances Berwick on the 'Joy' of BravoCon and Who Can Be Forgiven by the Network (Karen Huger!) — and Who Can't (Jen Shah, Probably)"

Naman Ramachandran for a theater/arts feature titled "'MJ the Musical' Star Jamaal Fields-Green on the 'Huge Responsibility' of Playing Michael Jackson on Stage"

Ethan Shanfeld for a music feature titled "Inside the Diddy Trial Circus: How Screaming Fans, Baby Oil and Street Preachers Turned the Courthouse Into a Madhouse"

Ramin Setoodeh for an entertainment feature, TV/streaming related titled "Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri Aren't Holding Back: 'After the Hunt' Stars on Making the Year's Most Provocative Movie"

Brian Steinberg for culture news/TV feature-related titled "CBS Put 'Evening News' Through Massive Overhaul.

Now It Needs People to Watch"

Brian Steinberg for business reporting titled "TV News Faces Creator Chaos as Anchors Chase Digital Dreams That Bring Big Bucks (or Return Little Reward)"

Owen Gleiberman also placed second in the category of film critic over 1,000 words.

Brian Steinberg placed second in the online journalist of the year category, as did Daniel D'Addario in the print journalist of the year category.

Honorary awards were given out at the ceremony to Rob Fukuzaki, a veteran Los Angeles sportscaster at KABC-TV, for lifetime achievement; singer Kenny Chesney for public service; NBC News' Craig Melvin for social impact; and civil rights attorney Carol Sobel for defense of journalists.

Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa was honored with the club's Daniel Pearl Award for extraordinary courage and commitment to journalism in the face of adversity.

Ressa, who is a strong advocate for press freedom and investigative reporting in her native Philippines, shared a compelling story of her long investigation into Southeast Asian links to Al-Qaeda, which was responsible for the 9/11 attacks, and the brutal January 2002 murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Ressa warned the audience of top journalists in the region about what she called "the Philippine-ization of America" and urged them to "hold the line" on First Amendment rights and protections.

She mentioned her own experience of facing 11 separate prosecutions in her home country for doing her job as a journalist.She noted she had to get permission from the country's top court to travel to Los Angeles to accept the award in person.Her main opponent, former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested last year under an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

"Here I am in front of you," Ressa said to the crowd.

"He's now in prison at The Hague awaiting trial."

Ressa also spoke about Pearl's tragic death, which often comes to mind as she pursues a dangerous profession.

She said the current era is no less dangerous for journalists, given the attacks on the media in many countries and the decline in public trust in journalism.In a time of what she called "information armageddon," she said journalists must be brave in their work.She pointed out the alarming spread of misinformation and outright "lies," and said journalists need to ask themselves, "What are you willing to sacrifice for the truth?"