Local News Pasadena is a Finalist for Five 2023 Southern California Journalism Awards

Local News Pasadena, a non-profit news organization that began publishing online in May 2023, is a finalist in multiple categories for the Southern California Journalism Awards. The prestigious annual competition is sponsored by the Los Angeles Press Club.

Local News Pasadena exclusively covers the greater Pasadena area. It was founded by the Pasadena Media Foundation to provide an outlet for provocative local “stories in the making.”

The publication faces tough competition from major national and regional news organizations in all reporting categories, including from the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Variety, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter and the Los Angeles Times. Winners will be announced during an awards gala in June.

Here are the finalists in each category:

• PRINT/ONLINE, ANY OUTLET – Editorials
  • Phil Hopkins, Local News Pasadena, “The Double-Edged Sword of Transit to Trails”
  • Tony Barboza, Los Angeles Times, “Big Oil is exploiting California’s Latinos in its latest climate disinformation push”
  • Robert Greene, Los Angeles Times, “Say goodbye to grass that’s only there for looks. California can’t afford to waste water”
  • Carla Hall, Los Angeles Times, “Are L.A. leaders trying to sabotage homeless housing in Venice?”
  • Chris Willman, Variety, “Jason Aldean Already Had the Most Contemptible Country Song of the Decade. The Video Is Worse”
    
• OBITUARY/IN APPRECIATION, Politics/Business/Arts Personalities
  • Victoria Thomas, Local News Pasadena, “Federico ‘Fred’ Gutierrez, Roma Market’s Indispensable Man”
  • Holly Gleason, Salvation South, “Simply The Best: Tina Turner, A Daughter of Nutbush, Always Knew What Love Had To Do With It”
  • Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, “Cari Beauchamp, L.A. fixture and author who redefined women in Hollywood, dies at 74”
  • Anne Steele, The Wall Street Journal, “Jimmy Buffett, ‘Margaritaville’ Singer and Beach- Themed Businessman, Dies After Battle With Skin Cancer”
  • Chris Willman, Variety, “Yola Pays Tribute to Tina Turner: ‘We Struggle to Talk About Black Women and Genius’ — But It Can’t Be Overstated for the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll”
    
• THEATER, ARTS FEATURE
  • Victoria Thomas, Local News Pasadena, “Banned ‘Bluest Eye’ is Anything but Bland at A Noise Within”
  • Eric Renner Brown, Billboard, “Sphere Factor: Inside The Opening of Las Vegas’ Game- Changing Venue”
  • Rosie Knight, IGN, “An Oral History of the ’90s Comic Book Boom… and Crash”
  • Esther D. Kustanowitz, LAist, “Transparent Musical’: A Disco Ball Glitter Party Of Intersectional Self-Discovery As The Pfeffermans Take To The Stage”
  • Abbey White, The Hollywood Reporter, “‘Dark Disabled Stories’ Invites Audiences to an Experiment in Unapologetically Accessible Theate
    
• PERSONALITY PROFILE, Music/Art/Society Personalities
  • Sheryl Turner, Local News Pasadena, “Draw Me Like One Of Your French Girls”
  • Lyndsey Parker, Yahoo, “Belinda Carlisle talks self-love, marital love and ‘Big Big Love’ at age 64: ‘With sobriety came the confidence that this is really what I’m meant to be doing in life’”
  • Cynthia Rebolledo, KCRW, “The man who makes LA’s best tortilla-making machines”
  • Ellise Shafer, Variety, “Peter Doherty and Katia deVidas on Making Doc ‘Stranger in My Own Skin’ About the ‘Terror and Danger’ of Drug Addiction — and Falling in Love in the Process”
  • Tom Teicholz, Forbes.com, “Like a Butterfly: The Artistry of Gary Tyler”
    
• POLITICAL COMMENTARY, National
  • Phil Hopkins, Local News Pasadena, “How the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Can Get Off Fodor’s Trash Bucket List”
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Substack, “Why I Find Antisemitism to Be Especially Heinous”
  • Bill Blum, Truthdig, “Bill Blum on Politics and the Courts”
  • Chris Hedges, ScheerPost, “They Lied About Afghanistan. They Lied About Iraq. And They Are Lying About Ukraine.”
  • Norberto Santana, Jr., Voice of OC, “Santana: Washington Warned Us To Skate Through The National Political Fracas”