Los Angeles Press Club to Honor Mexican Journalist at 2005 Southern California Journalism Awards

Los Angeles Press Club to Honor Mexican Journalist at 2005 Southern California Journalism Awards

Jesus Blancornelas Will Receive 4th Annual Pearl Award for Courage

LOS ANGELES, March 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The Los Angeles Press Club has announced Jesus Blancornelas, editor of Mexico's leading investigative newspaper, Zeta, has been named the 2005 recipient of the Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and Integrity in Journalism. The award will be presented at the 48th Annual Southern California Journalism Awards on the evening of June 11, 2005, in a ceremony at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel. Past recipients of the Pearl Award include the late Michael Kelly of the Atlantic Monthly, and TIME Magazine journalists Michael Weisskopf and James Nachtwey.

Blancornelas, who co-founded the Tijuana-based newsweekly Zeta 25 years ago, has investigated and written numerous stories on drug trafficking, migrant smuggling and corruption in Mexico. His hard-hitting exposes led to a 1997 assassination attempt on his life that was linked to the Tijuana drug cartel. While recovering, he helped create the Mexican Society of Journalists which fights for freedom of the press, and for the safety of journalists. Blancornelas has been recognized with numerous honors including the UNESCO/Guillermo CANO Prize, and the International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists. At the ceremony, the Pearl Award will be presented to Blancornelas by Judea and Ruth Pearl, parents of the late Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, for whom the award is named.

In addition to the Pearl Award, honors will be presented to journalists in a variety of categories for excellence in broadcast, print and online media. This year for the first time, the Southern California Journalism Awards will present a prize in the newest Award's category: Best Weblog. Honors will also be bestowed upon the yet unnamed winners of the Joseph M. Quinn Award for Journalistic Excellence and Distinction, and the President's Award.

For information on tickets, tables, advertising and sponsorships, contact LA Press Club Executive Director Diana Ljungaeus AT 323-469-8180 or diana@lapressclub.org

Source: The Los Angeles Press Club

CONTACT: LA Press Club Executive Director Diana Ljungaeus, +1-323-469-8180 or diana@lapressclub.org

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