TheWrap founder and editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman on Saturday took home three SoCal Journalism Awards, including Online Journalist of the Year.
“In covering the entertainment business and its personalities and often scooping other publications with breaking news, TheWrap’s founder and editor-in-chief, Sharon Waxman, is the Online Journalist of the Year,” wrote the judges for the award, which is administered by the L.A. Press Club. “No matter whether she’s overseeing entertainment coverage, analyzing entertainment business trends, or writing personality profiles herself, Waxman is an outstanding journalist.”
In addition, Waxman won top honors for her WaxWord personal blog, which the judges said “exhibits both a clear voice and an insider’s understanding of the entertainment industry are much to be admired.”
She also shared the prize for Best Broadcast/Film Entertainment News with former film editor Beatrice Verhoven for “Hollywood Shuns Jamal Khashoggi Doc ‘The Dissident’ Over Fear of Saudi Backlash, Insiders Say” “Gutsy story. Courage cannot be applauded enough. Outstanding journalism forces society to confront uncomfortable truths about society,” the judges wrote of the story. “This is one of those times.”
Verhoeven, who took third place as Entertainment Journalist of the Year, finished second for Best Film/TV News Feature for “Why Are So Many High-Level Executives Ditching Hollywood During the Pandemic?”
Waxman was also recognized with third place in the Personality Profile category for “Inside Jeremy Strong’s ‘Dangerous’ Approach to ‘Succession’ – and That ‘Cringeworthy’ Rap.” In addition, Waxman and former assistant managing editor Daniel Goldblatt shared third place in the Radio/Podcast Entertainment Reporting category for “TheWrap-Up Podcast: The State of TV Police Shows After George Floyd.”
Creative director Ada Guerin and her team picked up two third place honors, in the Portrait Photo category for Embry Lopez’s shot of JB Smoove and in the Entertainment Photo category for Corina Marie Howell’s shot of “What We Do in the Shadows” star Harvey Guillén.
Reviews editor Alonso Duralde also took third in the TV/Film Commentary/Analysis category for his piece “‘Onward’ Is Latest Major Studio Film with a Blink-and-You’ll-Miss-It LGBTQ Character.”
The awards were presented Saturday at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.