The LA Times' Don Frederick, based in the paper's DC bureau, has picked up the paper's Publisher's Prize, along with Andy Malcolm , for their work on the Top of the Ticket blog (the award is the paper's most prestigious internal prize).

LA Times Russ Stanton sent out the following note to staffers, obtained by FishbowlDC:

At the outset, they simply wanted to be unpredictable, in both subject matter and in attitude. Today, they might be the oldest Rookies of The Year, at least when it comes to internet history.
Their idea was a simple one: blog from Washington and Los Angeles
about the most historic presidential campaign in more than a half
century, taking advantage of our offices on both coasts to give
readers around the country near 'round-the-clock commentary and
insight.

And boy, have they (I regularly get emails from Andy in the wee hours
of the morning). They have broken news, done Q&As with our correspondents from the trail, cracked jokes, conducted reader polls and made Top of The Ticket the most interesting online read on the campaign. And they get a lot of help from our colleagues who are laboring day in and day out on the trail, providing feeds, breaking stories and providing analysis.