The Los Angeles Business Journal on Saturday won the top prize in a national journalism awards contest.

The newspaper won the Gold award in the category of Best Newspaper, in which the publication competed against large weekly business news tabloids in other cities on the basis of overall quality.

Judges wrote that the Business Journal’s editorial staff “clearly knows its audience and delivers to it on every possible topic,” while also noting the newspaper’s strong photography, graphics and design.

The award was presented at a conference in Nashville, Tenn., of the Alliance of Area Business Publications. It marked the fourth time in the last five years that the Business Journal walked away with the top award for business journals.

In all, the Business Journal won seven awards at the AABP conference. Separately, the publication won a dozen awards at the Los Angeles Press Club awards banquet Sunday evening. The paper’s affiliated newspaper, the San Fernando Valley Business Journal, also won awards at each event.

Here is a summation of the awards:

At the AABP conference (which gives gold, silver and bronze awards in most categories), the Los Angeles Business Journal and its design director, Robert Landry, won a gold medal in the category of Best Overall Design. “Reading this publication feels like driving a luxury car – you’re guaranteed a beautiful, consistent experience each time,” the judges wrote, who noted the paper’s clear presentation and good use of strong photography.

The Business Journal’s real estate reporter, Jacquelyn Ryan, won a Gold award in the category of Best Print Scoop for her story headlined “Downtown L.A. Greets Wal-Mart.” She broke the story about how Wal-Mart planned to open a controversial grocery near Chinatown.

“In less than a day, Jacquelyn Ryan turned a simple tip from one of her strongest sources into one of the most important business stories of the year for downtown Los Angeles,” the judges wrote.

Reporter Alfred Lee won a silver award in the Best Feature category for his article headlined “Police Make Business of Seizures.”

Reporter Howard Fine won a silver in the category of Best Coverage of Local Breaking News for his account of how Occidental Petroleum planned to resume drilling in Carson, possibly employing the controversial technique of fracking.

Landry also won two silver awards, one for Best Feature Layout

and the other for Best Special Section Design for the presentation of different special sections.

Significantly, the San Fernando Valley Business Journal won a silver award for Best Newspaper in its small tabloid class. Judges said the paper “reaches out to its readership with a combination of authoritative reporting, informed analysis and a lively writing style. Stories are timely and comprehensive, as well as brightly edited; design elements are well chosen, and can be bold when appropriate.”

The valley paper and its editor, Laurence Darmiento, also won a silver award for Best Headlines.

At the L.A. Press Club banquet at the Millennium Biltmore hotel downtown, the Los Angeles Business Journal won six 1st Place awards. They went to:

Lee for his “Police Make Business of Seizures” story in the category of News Feature.

Ryan for her package of articles about the Miracle Mile headlined “Miracle Growth” in the category of Business.

Editor Charles Crumpley in the Columnist category.

Landry in the Design category.

Tech Reporter Tom Dotan in the Entertainment News or Feature category for his story about transmedia headlined “Sideshows / Webisodes, Games Augment TV Viewing Experience.”

Newsdesk Editor Tom Hicks in the Headline category for penning “If Cochran Partners Don’t Fit, They Might Just Split.”

The Los Angeles Business Journal won four 2nd Place awards. They went to:

Tech Reporter Natalie Jarvey in the Entertainment News or Feature category for her story headlined “YouTube Gets Creatives in Los Angeles.

Hicks in the Headline category for his headline “Grace Period Over for Cash-Strapped L.A. Churches.”

David Nusbaum in the Sports category for his story “Net Loss? Tennis Tourney Needs Money or May Pack its Rackets.”

Photographer Ringo H.W. Chiu in the Feature Photo category for his picture named “Taylor.”

The Business Journal’s two 3rd Place awards went to:

Lee in the Personality Profile category for his story about Banker Dominic Ng headlined “Made in America.”

Former Reporter Richard Clough in the Investigative category for his story headlined “Too Good to be True.”

At the L.A. Press Club event, the San Fernando Valley Business Journal won two awards. They went to:

Mark Madler, Judy Temes, Andrew Khouri and Angela Melero, who won 3rd Place in the Entertainment News or Feature category for their story headlined “Disney’s Frontier / Dissecting Disney.”

Editor Darmiento who won 3rd Place in the Headline category for writing “Four Topping Fast-Growing Pizza Chain.”