L.A. Times Wins Two News Leaders Association Awards

The Los Angeles Times has won two News Leaders Association (NLA) Awards. Editorial Writer Robert Greene won the Burl Osborne Award for Editorial Leadership, Large division for editorials about “Criminal Justice in Los Angeles.” Columnist Steve Lopez won the Mike Royko Award for Commentary and Column Writing for his coverage of the L.A. homelessness crisis.

In addition, Staff Writer Christopher Goffard was recognized as a finalist for Writing Excellence for “Detective Trapp.”

The awards are among the most prestigious in journalism, honoring the best in print, digital, photo and video in 11 categories. This year’s contest drew 455 entries, and The Times was the only newspaper to win two awards.

In the announcement, contest judges praised Greene’s “rigorously reported editorials,” and noted that, “In a topic area that’s rife with opportunity for demagoguery, Greene brandished hard facts and logic to challenge generations of conventional wisdom surrounding criminal justice.”

The competition judges praised Lopez for putting “a face — or many faces” on the region’s homelessness epidemic. “Lopez took us with him onto the squalid streets of L.A., using his keen eye for detail and his vivid and poignant storytelling skills to allow us to see, smell and feel a world that we too often turn away from.”

The full list of winners can be found at newsleaders.org/2020-nla-awards.