The Society of Professional Journalists’ Los Angeles chapter honored longtime Southern California News Group journalist Larry Wilson at its semicentennial awards gala Thursday, Oct. 7, where Wilson joined an array of ‘distinguished’ story and truth-tellers whose careers exemplify “the best of L.A.’s media.”
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“In a city as vast and diverse as Los Angeles, it’s inspiring to see journalists across the media spectrum come together to celebrate why we do what we do,” said event chair Roberta Wax.
The group honored its 50th class of Distinguished Journalists, those “who have achieved a record of accomplishments over a number of years,” including Wilson, a longtime columnist, public editor and former editor of the Pasadena Star-News.
Wilson’s 39-year career at SCNG most recently culminated in his deep and inimitable insights amid the news group’s coverage of the Eaton fire, which was recognized as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting in May.
Wilson is also a deputy opinion editor and on the editorial board for the group’s 11 daily newspapers.
It is one highlight in a career that began in Altadena, where a young Wilson found his writing voice at Eliot Junior High’s Husky Hi-Lights before graduating from Blair High School in Pasadena. Wilson further honed his journalistic skills as the rock music critic of U.C. Berkeley’s Daily Californian, before returning to his hometown and working at the Pasadena Guardian. He helped start the Pasadena Weekly, where he served as business manager, reporter and later, assistant editor.
Wilson’s expertise and leadership in the SCNG family is rooted in his relentless commitment to the communities he serves, said Frank Pine, executive director of the news group’s 11 daily newspapers.
Describing his longtime colleague as a “California poet,” Pine said Wilson is a “font of institutional knowledge, a wise and talented editor and a man of great character.”
In accepting the award, Wilson offered up one editorial he wrote that captured his feelings as he reflects on his “long, wonderful trip in prose.”
“When I became, in my early ’30s, editorial page editor of the Star-News, it was a conservative Republican newspaper that didn’t believe in government intervention in many things. I convinced the publisher to endorse a slow-growth measure that would stop the tearing down of hundreds of Craftsman bungalows in Pasadena,” he said.
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The paper’s endorsement went a long way in voters approving the measure, Wilson said.
“I saw in that moment, in that election, the power of the press, and that the things we write can, from time to time, make a difference,” Wilson said. “I am honored to make a difference and I thank you so much for this award.”
The 2026 Distinguished Journalist Awards were also given to Dr. Paulette Brown-Hinds, founder of Voice Media Ventures and published of Black Voice News; broadcast journalist Christine Devine, anchor at Fox 11 News; Mariel Garza, co-founder and executive editor of the nonprofit Golden State, a commentary and news analysis organization; sports journalist Mina Kimes, ESPN NFL analyst; and writer, educator and photographer Gary Kohatsu, editor of Gardena Valley News and Culver City News.
The society also recognized Ann Burroughs, president and CEO of the Japanese American National Museum and its National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, with its Freedom of Information Award, applauding her leadership in championing the freedom of the press and other civil liberties.
The museum was the first to decry the rollback of civil rights and attacks on constitutional rights by the Trump administration, Burroughs noted.
Media executive Monica C. Lozano, granddaughter of the founder of La Opinión, also spoke on the state of the media today as well as throughout that Spanish-language newspaper’s 100-year history.
Student journalists Nikki Yunker from El Camino College and Blake Fagan from Cal State Northridge were also recognized with Student Media Awards.
The Society of Professional Journalists is a national nonprofit dedicated to protecting First Amendment rights, promoting high ethical standards, and supporting media professionals.
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