SPJ's Journalists of the Year

The Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists will honor four local journalists and a media attorney at its 30th annual awards banquet this spring.

SPJ-LA presents the Distinguished Journalist Award to members of the profession who demonstrate good news judgment, a strong sense of ethics and a passion for getting the story right. "They represent the best and the brightest of journalists working in the greater Los Angeles area today," says SPJ-LA President Mariel Garza.

Details about the date and location of the banquet will soon be announced. The information will be posted at: www.spj.org/losangeles.

DISTINGUISHED JOURNALIST AWARD WINNERS

JOHN ANTCZAK has covered Southern California for The Associated Press for 26 years as a reporter and a desk supervisor in the Los Angeles bureau. He has reported on virtually all aspects of life in the region - Hollywood, politics, crime, business, science, natural disasters and Southern California culture. For many years, Antczak has specialized in directing coverage of big, breaking stories, ranging from earthquakes to the Emmy Awards. He was AP's California/Nevada 2004 Staffer of the Year.

STEVE KINDRED has been a radio reporter and anchor since 1975. Since joining KFWB-AM (980), he has covered Operation Desert Shield, the San Francisco and Northridge earthquakes and the 1992 L.A. Riots. His coverage of the 1997 North Hollywood bank shootout earned him a Mark Twain Award from The Associated Press. He is KFWB's City Hall reporter but may be best known for covering trials, from Rodney King to Robert Blake. He's the winner of an Edward R. Murrow award from the Radio-TV News Directors Association and 18 Golden Mikes.

JULIA SEIFER is the special projects producer for "Eyewitness News". Since joining KABC-TV (Ch. 7) in 1988, she's worked her way up from assignment desk assistant to writer to producer. She covers the medical and legal beats. Seifer also determines and coordinates coverage on long-term projects, including coverage of the O.J. Simpson, Rodney King, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jackson trials. She's worked abroad, working on stories about African-American genealogy, counter-terrorism efforts in Paris and American doctors helping terrorism victims in Israel. She received an Emmy Award for writing and producing a series about the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Seifer has also been recognized by The Associated Press for her breaking-news coverage.

DAVID ZAHNISER is a staff writer for the Los Angeles bureau of Copley News Service. He is known for breaking stories about city and county government. For example, Zahniser last year discovered employees of a Miami-based company had made donations to Antonio Villaraigosa's mayoral campaign. Villaraigosa later announced he would return the contributions. Zahniser's stories appear in the Daily Breeze of Torrance and the San Diego Union-Tribune.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AWARD

SPJ-LA also honors people, often non-journalists, who further the free flow of information and champion freedom of the press. The Freedom of Information Award is not given out every year. The chapter feels this year's recipient truly deserves the recognition.

KARLENE W. GOLLER is vice president and deputy general counsel for the Los Angeles Times and Tribune Company's senior counsel for West Coast media. She is also First Amendment counsel for the Times and Tribune’s other California newspapers. Goller represents the papers in connection with legislative and policy matters at the state and federal levels. She is a member of the California, District of Columbia, Virginia, and United States Supreme Court Bars. She serves on the board and Government Affairs Committee of the California Newspaper Publishers Association and on the legal committees of LA Youth newspaper and the Newspaper Association of America. She also serves on the editorial board for the Media Law Resource Center’s MediaLawLetter. Ms. Goller is vice chair and member of the board of Public Counsel, the largest pro-bono legal services provider in the country.