Posts Tagged ‘Richard Stellar’

When the 55th annual LA Press Club SoCal Journalism Awards are handed out next month at the Biltmore Hotel, please forgive Radar Online’s Dylan Howard for any awkward facial expression as the finalists for category H9 are read aloud. There are a total of three for this Online bracket and all are named Dylan Howard.

The former Celebuzz editor-in-chief has moved on from his Hollywood digs to a return-job with AMI in New York. In his wake is one of the craziest latest examples of the problems caused by the LA Press Club’s paid-entry award finalist process:

H9. ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

* Dylan Howard, Celebuzz, “Caught On Tape: Chevy Chase Rips His Own TV Sitcom”
* Dylan Howard, Celebuzz, “Exposed: Hollywood’s Clandestine Poker Ring”
* Dylan Howard, Celebuzz, “Family Feud: The Battle Over Michael Jackson’s Millions and His Three Children“

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Nestled deep within TheWrap’s Hollyblogs network, Richard Stellar has made quite a name for himself. Earlier this spring, he claimed a pair of Southern California Journalism Awards from the LA Press Club for Best Weblog, Individual (tied with The Jewish Journal’s Danielle Berrin) and Best Facebook Presence by an Individual.

Which makes Sunday’s posting by Stellar all the more surprising. In a wildly miscalculated and deeply offensive argument, he suggests that the absence of Joan Rivers’ new book from Costco’s limited literary inventory puts the company on par with Nazi Germany. Never mind that only Rivers has suggested there was active censorship involved. Or the fact that because the chain carries such a tiny fraction of published books at any time, the notion that something not being sold is discriminatory borders on ridiculous.

The reader comments to Stellar’s August 12 item say it all. Here are just a few:

Baruch Ashem: I am contacting the Jewish Defense League and other media outlets regarding this article. I am simply aghast and appalled. How dare TheWrap publish this. I am (almost) speechless.

Arrowhead: Is this a hoax? This is a hoax, right?

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At last night’s 54th Annual SoCal Journalism Awards, the big winners were the Los Angeles Times and KPCC 89.3 FM, with eight first prizes each. The LAT was led by photographer Francine Orr, who won three awards (Photojournalist of the Year, Entertainment Photo, Photo Essay), while KPCC’s haul included a pair for Molly Peterson (News or Feature Short Form, Use of Sound). KCRW, KPCC’s main competitor in the LA public radio space, failed to win any first-place prizes.

On the Hollywood trades side, it was THR five, TheWrap two and Deadline.com one, with Variety essentially abstaining. Kim Masters won a Journalist of the Year prize as well as another for her article with Daniel Miller about high-stakes Hollywood poker. Meanwhile, for TheWrap, it was not a main reporter but rather blog network contributor Richard Stellar who claimed both nods, for Weblog, Individual (tied with Danielle Berrin, Jewish Journal) and Best Facebook Presence by an Individual.

Other leading first-place winners at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel Sunday night, each capturing six such awards, were the Los Angeles Business Journal, KCET’s SoCal Connected and LA Weekly. Although in one case with the Weekly, film critic Karina Longworth was the only journalist nominated in the Daily/Weekly Newspapers category of Entertainment Reviews/Criticism/Columns.

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