Business Journal Gets Top Press Club Prizes

The Business Journal received two first prizes from the Los Angeles Press Club during the organization’s annual awards dinner on June 21.

In the business reporting category for newspapers under 100,000 circulation, reporters Anthony Palazzo and Conor Dougherty won for the Aug. 26, 2002 special report “Inside the Books,” which chronicled the corporate governance issues involving a single company, Malibu-based toymaker Jakks Pacific Inc. The judges noted that the package brought financial and accounting controversies “a bit closer to home by putting the issues into a context all of the Business Journal’s readers could relate to.”

Also winning first prize was Editor Mark Lacter for his weekly commentaries. “A columnist’s columnist, Lacter takes a variety of issues and makes them his own for 18 inches or so,” the judges wrote.

In addition, the Business Journal received second place for last year’s edition of the Richest Angelenos special report.

The Press Club awards also presented special awards to L.A. Times columnist Al Martinez and KCBS Anchor Laura Diaz. National columnist Michael Kelly, who was killed in a vehicle accident during the Iraq war, was recognized in memoriam.