Los Angeles Times longtime sports columnist Bill Plaschke has been named the Los Angeles Press Club’s 2025 Joseph M Quinn Awardee for Lifetime Achievement.
“I am humbled and honored to receive an award named after the great Joe Quinn, a legendary reporter and editor who truly embraced journalism’s enduring connection to the community. I have never written a word in the past 38 years that has not been shaped and supported by the wonderful staff at the L.A. Times, past and present, and I will be forever grateful for their strength, ” Plaschke said.
Plaschke has been a Los Angeles Times sports columnist since 1996 and a panelist on the popular ESPN daily talk show “Around the Horn.” He was the 2024 recipient of the prestigious Red Smith Award, widely considered the highest honor in sports journalism. He is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame and the California Sports Hall of Fame and has been named National Sports Columnist of the Year nine times by the Associated Press Sports Editors, and twice by the Society of Professional Journalists and National Headliner Awards.
“Bill Plaschke is part of the fabric of Los Angeles and one of the most respected sports journalists in the country, ” said Los Angeles Press Club President Danny Bakewell, Jr.
Plaschke is the author of six books, including ”Paradise Found: A High School Football Team’s Rise from the Ashes” and a collection of his columns titled “Plaschke: Good Sports, Spoilsports, Foul Balls and Oddballs.”
He is in the national Big Brothers/Big Sisters Alumni Hall of Fame and has been named Man of the Year by the organization. He has also received a Pursuit of Justice Award from the California Women’s Law Center. Plaschke has appeared in a movie (“Ali”), a dramatic HBO series (“Luck”) and, in a crowning cultural moment he still does not quite understand, his name can be found in a rap song — “Females Welcome” by Asher Roth.
The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented at the 67th SoCal Journalism Awards Gala on Sunday, June 22 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel DTLA.
More than 500 journalists and media executives are expected to attend this prestigious event.
Proceeds from the Gala are the largest source of income for the Los Angeles Press Club, a 501(c) 3 that speaks for journalists across all media platforms. All contributions are tax-deductible.
For more information about this event or to sponsor, advertise or buy tickets go to www.LApressclub.org or contact Executive Director Diana Ljungaeus at (31) 210-1860 or email Diana-AT-LApressclub.org.
The LAPC is one of the oldest and most respected journalist organizations in the nation with a storied history of honoring the most celebrated reporters of the past century. In recent years, the Los Angeles Press Club has continued to uphold its tradition of acknowledging excellence in spite of the fact that journalism itself has struggled in the face of ever-declining budgets.
