KCET Wins Fourteen SoCal Journalism Awards, Most Of Any Broadcaster
KCET is proud to announce that it has won 14 First Place Awards at the 60th annual Southern California Journalism Awards presented by the Los Angeles Press Club. The station's wins include nine for its acclaimed news program "Socal Connected," including being awarded “Best Talk/Public Affairs Show.” In addition, "SoCal Connected's" host Val Zavala was awarded “Best Television Host/Anchor” and Nic Cha Kim was named as “Television Journalist of the Year” for his work on the series.
KCET’s historical series "Lost LA" (produced in conjunction with USC Libraries) garnered a total of three First Place awards. Other original KCET series were also honored including "City Rising" (in partnership with the California Endowment) "The Migrant Kitchen" (produced in partnership with acclaimed culinary publication Life & Thyme) each receiving one. The 2018 Southern California Journalism Awards were presented on Sunday, June 24 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
The 60th Annual Southern California Journalism Awards for KCET include:
TELEVISION/FILM – ANCHOR/HOST
SoCal Connected – “The Way Home”
Val Zavala
Judges’ comment: Zavala expertly juggles the questioning and flawlessly guides the panel’s discussion of Homelessness in illuminating ways.
TELEVISION JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Nic Cha Kim (SoCal Connected)
Judges’ comment: A standout in a very tough category! Nic Cha Kim's involvement in his stories, and the depths of the investigations demand your attention. Great job!
ALL MEDIA PLATFORMS – SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY REPORTING
SoCal Connected - “The Assassin Bugs”
Dina Demetrius, Deepa Fernandes, & Albert Arce
Judges’ comment: Very nice writing — descriptive with lots of context. Good storytelling. The video was well done, well edited.
ALL MEDIA PLATFORMS – MINORITY/IMMIGRATION REPORTING, Broadcast
Lost LA - “The Green Book”
Juan Devis, Catherine Quinlan, Matthew Crotty, Nathan Masters, & Kelly Parker
Judges’ comment: A beautifully told story of Victor Green’s travel guide for Black Americans visiting Los Angeles during the Jim Crow Era.
TELEVISION /FILM- VIDEOGRAPHER
Douglas E. Porter
Judges’ comment: Amazing work. Beautiful images, one after the other, that tell a really unique story
TELEVISION - INVESTIGATIVE
SoCal Connected - “Bumps in the Road”
Karen Foshay, Vince Beiser, & Alberto Arce
Judges’ comment: It started out as your standard “bad roads” story that we have seen over and over again, but the outrage hit “11” when you realize the money that should be spent to fix the problem is being “refunded” to the government. Well-told story!
TELEVISION - NEWS FEATURE (over 5 minutes)
SoCal Connected – “Who Approved That?”
Kathryn Keeney Jaeger, Stephanie O’Neill, & Michael Bloecher
Judges’ comment: Well shot, Well written, Well done. A great story about the problems of gentrification and growth facing nearly every city in America.
TELEVISION/FILM – LIFESTYLE FEATURE
SoCal Connected – “Military Buds”
Kathryn Keeney Jaeger,Vince Beiser & Michael Bloecher
Judges’ comment: First Place "Military Buds" Different angle than the average marijuana story. Great use of word-play and alliteration by the reporter to connect the visuals with the mental picture. Also the story emphasized people over pot by letting the story subjects tell their own point of view about working at the company and reintegrating back into society.
TELEVISION/FILM – ENTERTAINMENT NEWS or FEATURE
Lost LA – “When Women Called the Shots: The Forgotten Story of Early Hollywood’s Female Filmmakers”
Juan Devis, Catherine Quinlan, Nathan Masters, Matthew Crotty, & Kelly Parker
Judges’ comment: This was a particularly tight category and the top candidates were close. The winner is an excellent piece that shines a spotlight on Hollywood's forgotten pioneers. It is especially relevant in the current political climate.
TELEVISION/FILM – NON-ENTERTAINMENT PERSONALITY PROFILE/INTERVIEW
SoCal Connected – “Virus Hunter”
Val Zavala and Michael Bloecher
Judges’ comment: The winning entry uses a good mixture of video, stills and interview to give a full portrait of an interesting person. The added bonus is the presentation of the science behind the story. Informative and compelling.
TELEVISION/FILM - TALK/PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Karen Foshay, Linda Burns, Dina Demetrius, Kathryn Keeney Jaeger, & Lata Pandya
Judges’ comment: Great public affairs story telling. Tackles issues of importance to the region/ Presents voices and perspectives of disenfranchised on topics important to poorer communities. Excellent photography, strong interviews and great editing. Compelling watching rather than back-to-back talking heads. Made me want to watch (and learn) more.
TELEVISION/FILM - FEATURE DOCUMENTARY, (over 25 minutes)
Juan Devis, Justin Cram, Kelly Parker, Rita Baghdadi, & Jeremiah Hammerling
Judges’ comment: Excellent topic, Great video. Quickly grabs viewer’s attention with strong visuals and holds it with information about historical and current trends that are relatable to most Americans. Interesting sources with impactful comments and effective use of archived footage.
TELEVISION - DOCUMENTARY, (short under 25 minutes)
The Migrant Kitchen – “Alta California”
Juan Devis, Antonio Diaz, Matthew Crotty, Ben Hunter, Kelly Parker, & Stef Ferrari
Judges’ comment: Through fascinating interviews and food preparation scenes, this short documentary about several L.A. chiefs making artisanal Mexican food is enlightening.
ONLINE – POLITICAL COMMENTARY
kcet.org (News)– “What’s At Stake With Measure S? Everything, Los Angeles”
Brian Addison
Judges’ comment: Addison skillfully takes this issue apart, piece by piece, anticipating all arguments. Nicely written!
Top Image: SoCal Connected Associate Producer Stephanie O'Neill, SoCal Connected Reporter Karen Foshay, Former SoCal Connected Anchor and Reporter Val Zavala, SoCal Connected Senior Producer Dina Demetrius and SoCal Connected Reporter Lata Pandya
