The Southern California Journalism Awards were born during the Cold War, when Los Angeles journalism was dominated by the city’s many newspapers. Television was in its infancy. Developments like all-news radio were still years away. Women journalists were rare in mainstream media. Minorities, even rarer.

Today we see greater diversity in the newsroom and in the ways we provide information. The Press Club has been striving to embrace Internet journalists and bloggers — clearly the wave of the future.

The Southern California Journalism Awards, now celebrating 59 years of recognizing high-caliber journalism, continues to call attention to LA's fine journalists while promoting excellence in new and emerging media.