Journalism kudos for USC Dornsife’s M.G. Lord and Office of Communication
Competing against regional, national and international media luminaries, a USC Dornsife faculty member and the USC Dornsife Office of Communication won honors at the 2018 Southern California Journalism Awards. Presented by the Los Angeles Press Club, the awards are now celebrating their 60th year with a record number of submissions — more than 2,000 entries were received this year, according to Chris Palmeri, president of the L.A. Press Club.
The 2018 honors were presented on June 24 at a gala reception held at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
The first-place award in the “Personality Profile: Politics/Business/Arts Personalities” category went to USC Dornsife’s M.G. Lord, assistant professor of the practice of English, for her article “Adam Schiff’s Quiet Riot” in FourTwoNine magazine.
In making their decision, the judges commented, “M.G. Lord paints a crystal-clear portrait of Adam Schiff, Trump’s most ardent, intellectually prepared critic — as well as the state of affairs of the Russia investigation. The kind of writing to bring the reader to a deeper understanding.”
The USC Dornsife Office of Communication’s Michelle Boston, senior communications specialist, took home third place in the “Feature, Culture/Entertainment over 1,000 words” category for her USC Dornsife Magazine feature, “Hanging by a Thread?,” which explored climbing mortality figures among middle-aged white Americans. Boston’s article cited research by Nobel Prize-winning economist and USC Dornsife Presidential Professor of Economics Angus Deaton into the rising numbers of so-called “deaths of despair” among this demographic.
Letty Avila, art director and production manager, and Matthew Savino, senior designer, were nominated in the “Page Design” category for the feature “Memento Mori” in the Fall 2017/Winter 2018 issue of USC Dornsife Magazine. First place in this category was taken by The Hollywood Reporter, while TheWrap took second spot.
Susan Bell, managing editor and senior writer for the USC Dornsife Office of Communication, was a finalist in the “Personality Profile: Politics/Business/ Arts Personalities” category for her USC Dornsife Magazine feature “Dying to Talk,” a profile of alumna Dawn Gross, a palliative care physician and host of a radio show that aims to revolutionize how we talk about death and dying. Other nominees in this category included Rolling Stone Magazine and Variety.
As well as luminaries of the L.A. and Southern California media, the event was also attended by international media from the United Kingdom and Australia. Guests heard speeches from, among others, Lester Holt, NBC News’ evening anchor, who was presented with the Joseph M. Quinn Award for Lifetime Achievement, and entertainer Dolly Parton, who received the Bill Rosendahl Public Service Award for Journalistic Contributions to Civic Life.