Reason Earns 15 Southern California Journalism Awards

Reason was recognized 15 times on Sunday at the Los Angeles Press Club’s 67th annual Southern California Journalism Awards, winning four awards along with five second-place finishes and six third-place finishes. It is a recent record for the magazine and TV operation, which received 17 nominations this year.

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Producer Andrew Heaton, Senior Producer Austin Bragg, Director of Special Projects Meredith Bragg, and Producer John Carter won best humor/satire writing in broadcast for “Partisan Post-Game (Episode 2).”

Reporter Billy Binion, Video Art Director Adani Samat, and freelancers Qinling Li and Arthur Nazaryan won for best activism journalism in broadcast for their documentary “This fat crazy lazy was arrested for her journalism,” which explores the national First Amendment implications of a case centered around a citizen journalist who was arrested for her reporting:

Contributing Editor Lenore Skenazy won for best activism journalism in print for her piece in the October issue of Reason, “Kids Should Be Blindfolded and Dropped in the Woods at Night,” which a judge noted was “an interesting and fascinating story about a Netherlands kids tradition that would be considered hazing—or worse—in the United States.”

Reporter Billy Binion won for best profile/interview (nonentertainment personalities) in the audio journalism category for his interview with exoneree Amanda Knox, in which they discussed her views on true crime and the media, her criminal justice reform advocacy, and her current relationship with the lead prosecutor on her case, among other topics:

SECOND PLACE

IMMIGRATION REPORTING (print)

Deputy Managing Editor Fiona Harrigan for “Left in the Graveyard of Empires” from the August/September 2024 issue of Reason.  

RACE AND SOCIETY REPORTING (print) 

Senior Editor Jacob Sullum for “Smoking Opium Is Not Our Vice” from the May 2024 issue of Reason.

MAGAZINE FEATURE, BUSINESS/GOVERNMENT

Reporter Eric Boehm for “How Inflation Breaks Our Brains” from the October 2024 issue of Reason.

MEDICAL/HEALTH REPORTING, DISEASES AND EPIDEMICS (print/online)

Contributing Editor J.D. Tuccille for “When Your Heart Becomes a Snitch” from the April 2024 issue of Reason.

HUMOR/SATIRE WRITING (broadcast)

Senior Producer Austin Bragg, Director of Special Projects Meredith Bragg, and Producer John Carter won best humor/satire writing in broadcast for “Great Moments in Unintended Consequences: Doordash, Google AI, French Wikipedia (Vol. 16).”

THIRD PLACE

EDUCATION REPORTING (print)

Associate editor Emma Camp for “The Real Student Loan Crisis” from the March 2024 issue of Reason.

MAGAZINE COLUMNIST

Editor in Chief Katherine Mangu-Ward for “The Bankruptcy of Nostalgianomics” from the March 2024 issue of Reason; “SWAT Goes to College” from the July 2024 issue of Reason; and “Double-Hater Dead-Enders” from the November 2024 issue of Reason.

MAGAZINE COMMENTARY

Reporter Billy Binion for “Trump Promises Police ‘Immunity From Prosecution,’” from the August/September 2024 issue of Reason.

FEATURE DOCUMENTARY (over 25 minutes)

Senior Producer Zach Weissmueller, Video Editor Danielle Thompson, Producer César Báez, Video Art Director Adani Samat, and Executive Editor of Video and Podcasts Jim Epstein for “Javier Milei: Madman? Or savior?”

ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING (broadcast)

Senior Producer Zach Weissmueller, Video Editor Danielle Thompson, Executive Editor of Video and Podcasts Jim Epstein, Producer Kevin Alexander, and Video Art Director Adani Samat for “The political sabotage of nuclear power.”

LIMITED SERIES PODCAST

Reporter Eric Boehm and former Podcast Producer Hunt Beaty for Season 2 of Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.

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Source: https://reason.com/2025/06/25/reason-earns-15-southern-california-journalism-awards/