NLGJA Announces 2016 Excellence in Journalism Award Winners and Honorees

Congrats to all the winners of this year's NLGJA Excellence in Journalism awards, including my pals Tim Teeman and Ben Ryan!  For the uninitiated, the awards were established in 1993 to foster, recognize and reward excellence in journalism on issues related to the LGBTQ community.

“NLGJA saw unprecedented growth in nominations for the Excellence in Journalism awards during our 25th Anniversary last year,” said NLGJA Awards Chair April Hunt. “This year, we expanded the categories to more than double last year’s offerings, continuing to award small and mid-sized publications, and saw exponential growth in nominated work.”

The 2016 NLGJA Journalist of the Year is Dominic Holden, National LGBT Reporter for BuzzFeed. “Holden presents a really strong mix of thoughtful trans stories, a good take on familiar subject matter, some really strong characters and good depth,” wrote one judge. Holden additionally took second place in Newswriting (Non-daily) for Why Are Black Transgender Women Getting Killed in Detroit? This year’s Sarah Pettit LGBT Journalist of the Year Award goes to Lucas Grindley, Senior Vice President and Editorial Director for Here Media. “Impressive work,” one judge praised. “Grindley has smart and thoughtful treatment of chosen topics.”

The complete list of award winners follows: 

Special recognition awards:

Journalist of the Year Award

First: Dominic Holden, BuzzFeed News
Second: Tim Teeman, The Daily Beast

Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for the LGBT Journalist of the Year

First: Lucas Grindley, Here Media
Second: Erik Hall, OutSports.com

The Al Neuharth Award for Innovation in Investigative Journalism

First: Jim Burress for “Fulton County Doesn’t Spend, Loses HIV Prevention Money,” 90.1 WABE 

Print/online awards:

Excellence in Book Writing

First: Mark Segal for “And Then I Danced: Traveling the Road to LGBT Equality,” Akashic Books

Excellence in Feature Writing Award

First: Berlin Sylvestre for “Damascus to Denver: Exodus From Syria,” OUT FRONT Magazine

Excellence in Feature Writing Award (Non-daily)

First: Michael Lindenberger for “The Vanishing Terrain of Gay America,” The New Republic
Second: Tre’vell Anderson for “Jewel’s Catch One Disco’s Demise Marks Era’s End for L.A.’s Gay Blacks,” L.A. Times

Excellence in News Writing Award

First: Andy Birkey for “Dozens of Christian Schools Win Title IX Waivers to Ban LGBT Students,” The Column
Second: Daniel Burke for “Exclusive: Pope Held Private Meeting with Same-Sex Couple in U.S.,” CNN

Excellence in News Writing Award (Non-daily)

First: Gretchen Rachel Hammond for “LGBT Immigrants Still Face Hurdles,” Windy City Times
Second: Dominic Holden for “Why Are Black Transgender Women Getting Killed in Detroit?” BuzzFeed News

Excellence in Photojournalism Award

First: Preston Gannaway for “Soccer on the Streets,” ESPN
Second: Bradley Secker for “A Gay Refugee Sold His Kidney to Escape Iran,” BuzzFeed News

Excellence in Profile Writing Award

First: The Advocate Staff for “40 Under 40: Intersectional Voices,” The Advocate
Second: Tim Teeman for “Jane Clementi: I Almost Killed Myself After Tyler’s Suicide–This Is How I Survived,” The Daily Beast

Excellence in Sports Writing Award

First: Erik Hall for “Uncle’s Death Motivates Gay College Athlete to Create Change,” OutSports.com

Excellence in Student Journalism Award

First: Nicole Wiesenthal for “Collection,” South Florida Gay News
Second: Earl Jordan Lalata for “The Right to Privacy,” Xpress Magazine

Excellence in Travel Writing Award

First: Manny Velasquez-Paredes for “The Great Family Escape: The Lake George Adventure,” Connextions Magazine 

Digital awards:

Excellence in Blogging

First: Mark S. King for “My Fabulous Disease,” My Fabulous Disease
Second: Pamela Valentine for “Affirmed Mom of a Transgender Child,” Chicagonow.com

Excellence in a Digital Edition Award

First: Mark Calvey, Krystal Peak, Jim Gardner, Chris Rauber and Ron Leuty for “Business of Pride Special Edition,” San Francisco Business Times

Excellence in Digital Video Award

First: Samantha Stark for “How a Love Story Triumphed in Court,” NYTimes.com

Excellence in Multimedia Award

First: German Lopez and Joe Posner for “Trans Lives,” Vox.com

Excellence in Online Journalism Award

First: Shannon Keating, Lauren Morrell Tabak, Marcie Bianco, Sarah Fonseca and Lisa C. Moore for “Lesbian History Week,” Buzzfeed
Second: Eric Walter for “Speak Easy Forums: LGBT Priorities Beyond Marriage,” Newsworks.org

Excellence in Social Media Award

First: The Advocate Staff for “Day in LGBT America,” The Advocate 

Editorial awards:

Excellence in Column Writing

First: Maxwell Heller for “Columns of Miz Cracker,” Slate
Second: Heidi Stevens for “Balancing Act with Heidi Stevens,” Chicago Tribune

Excellence in Opinion/Editorial Writing Award

First: Neal Broverman for “I Met My Best Friend on Grindr,” The Advocate
Second: Mark S. King for “Surviving Life Itself,” POZ 

Broadcast awards:

Excellence in Documentary Award:

First: Simon Kilmurry, Chris Hastings, Carmen L. Vicencio and PJ Raval for “America ReFramed: Before You Know It,” World Channel

Excellence in Local Television Award

First: Darren Perron for “Powerful Transformation,” WCAX-TV

Excellence in Network Television Award

First: Dax Tejera, Eric Herbst, Lindsay Garfield, Alcione Gonzalez and Douglas Forte for
“America With Jorge Ramos: 101 Gay Weddings,” Fusion
Second: Jay Kernis for “Sunday Morning: In His Name,” CBS News

Excellence in Podcasts Award

First Place: Ken Schneck for “This Show is So Gay,” This Show is So Gay

Excellence in Radio Award

First: David Weinberg for “Grace of the Sea,” KCRW 89.9FM
Second: Jim Burress for “Fulton County Doesn’t Spend, Loses HIV Prevention Money,” WABE-FM and WABE.org 

Coverage awards:

Excellence in Bisexual Coverage Award

First: Colin Murphy for “Vincent Price’s Daughter Confirms Father’s Bisexuality,” #Boom Magazine

Excellence in Health or Fitness Coverage:

First: Mary Emily O’Hara for “The Transgender Healthcare Revolution is Here With Two New Startups,” The Daily Dot
Second: Benjamin Ryan for “When Can We Expect PrEP 2.0?,” POZ

Excellence in HIV/AIDS Coverage Award

First: Heather Boerner for “Ongoing HIV Prevention/Treatment Coverage,” The Daily Beast/TheBody.com
Second: Daniel Villarreal and Topher Williams for “‘Trust Him?’: Why Are The Images Debating PrEP Use So Consistently Shitty?” UnicornBooty.com

Excellence in Transgender Coverage Award

First: Dylan Edwards for “Voices: How I Told My Grandma I’m Transgender,” Fusion
Second: Sunnivie Brydum and Mitch Kellaway for “This Black Trans Man Is in Prison for Killing His Rapist,” The Advocate

Learn more HERE.

NLGJA Announces 2016 Inductees to LGBTQ Journalists Hall of Fame

Congrats to this year's inductees, Ina Fried and LZ Granderson!

Ina Fried is one of the nation’s top tech journalists, currently writing for Recode, while frequently covering and commenting on technology news on CNBC, National Public Radio, and a host of broadcast, online and print media. Her current beat focuses on, as she puts it, “wireless issues and devices, including tablets, smartphones and even some phones of average intelligence.” Before her current role, she spent a decade at CNET. Her reporting has spanned several continents, two genders and covering some of the top stories in her field including the Hewlett-Packard-Compaq merger, Bill Gates’ transition from software pioneer to philanthropist and interviewing Steve Jobs while covering the iPhone location tracking controversy. She has served on the NLGJA board of directors including her leadership role as Vice President of Print. As a recipient of numerous journalism awards, in 2014 Fried also was named to the Advocate’s list of the nation’s top 50 Most Influential LGBT People in Media.

LZ Granderson today is considered the nation’s most visible, openly gay sports journalist and has been out his entire professional career while working exclusively within mainstream media. He is currently an ESPN senior writer for The Undefeated and regular contributor to SportsNation, Around the Horn, and Outside the Lines, while also a tennis analyst and reporter at Wimbledon and the US Open. He is a regular ABC News contributor to GMA, This Week and Nightline, in addition to co-hosting ABC News’ first digital show Strait Talk and this year co-anchored ABC News digital coverage of the RNC and DNC. Prior to joining ABC, his unique observations on the intersections of athletics, race, identity, culture, LGBT issues and politics made him a popular CNN columnist and contributor to Erin Burnett OutFront, Newsroom with Don Lemon and Anderson Cooper 360. Prior to ESPN, Granderson was a reporter for such publications as The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The South Bend Tribune, and The Grand Rapids Press. Outside of newsrooms, has previously served as an adjunct professor at Northwestern University and a Resident Fellow at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics. LZ Granderson was honored by GLAAD and NLGJA for his outstanding journalism in years past, in 2012, Granderson was named NLGJA’s Journalist of the Year.

Learn more about the Hall of Fame HERE.

Meredith Vieira Helps NLGJA Celebrate 25 Years of LGBT Media Advocacy

As always, had a hoot at the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association's annual Headlines and Headliners benefit gala, which raised tens of thousands of dollars for the organization's programs and scholarships for aspiring LGBT journalists. 

Returning host Meredith Vieira was in fine form, as usual, reminding guests that it's the organization's 25th anniversary: "Wow. Twenty-five, you know what that means -- too young to run for president and too old to date Andy Cohen." 

She went on to explain about a small snafu in her arrival: “I almost didn’t make it here tonight. I went in the wrong door and ended up at the Museum of Sex. Turns out that’s where the after-party is. If you don’t know, the password is Jeff Zucker or as most people refer to him, 'Mother Zucker.'" 

On a slightly more serious note, Vieira continued: "Now, more than ever, our business boasts a field of prominent Out and proud gays in key positions: Robin Roberts, Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon, Thomas Roberts, Rachel Maddow, Sam Champion and of course America’s closeted sweethearts, Kathie Lee and Hoda.” 

And then things got real: "The transgender community continues to make strides to gain greater acceptance with more portrayals in the mainstream media. This past year we saw Laverne Cox make history as the first transgender person to grace the cover of Time magazine, the series “Transparent” on Amazon won two Golden Globes and next week Bruce Jenner breaks his silence in an interview with Diane Sawyer about what many expect to be an open conversation about his transitioning…It is because of organizations like NLGJA that push for fair and accurate coverage of the LGBT community that we are where we are today, continuing to educate decision makers in newsrooms to sensitively cover the issues confronting each and every one of us."

Special guest Tyson Beckford gave the audience of media professionals some good advice ...

Always have a career backup plan ...

Here I am with journalist/DJ Jeremy Blacklow and Towleroad's Michael Goff

... and with NY1 theater reporter Frank DiLella, who has great taste in ties 

All in all, another great night for a great cause. To learn more about NLGJA, please click HERE.