IGN Writers Win L.A. Press Club Awards for Star Wars, Watchmen Articles

IGN is thrilled to announce that two of its writers were recognized as first-place winners at the L.A. Press Club's 62nd Annual Southern California Journalism Awards. Senior editor/producer Joshua Yehl won first place in the category of Entertainment Commentary (Film/TV) for his December 2019 essay "How I Learned to Grieve and Heal Through Star Wars." Inspired by the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and its inclusion of the franchise's first on-screen, same-sex kiss, Yehl offers a personal account of how that Star Wars milestone helped him process the grief surrounding the death of his friend Drew Leinonen, who was among those killed at the 2016 shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Freelance writer Siddhant Adlakha won in the "Criticism of TV" category, selected out of all media platforms (print, radio, TV or online), for his series of reviews of HBO's Watchmen. Adlakha scored the eighth episode of Watchmen a 10, writing "Watchmen’s penultimate episode is a thermodynamic miracle. An expertly crafted piece of television that positions us in past and present simultaneously, while exploring what makes Dr. Manhattan human — and therefore, what makes the rest of us. A story of doomed romance, of sacrifice, and of what it feels like to remember falling in love." Adlakha continues to be an regular contributor to IGN's entertainment coverage, and currently is penning a retrospective series looking back at filmmaker Christopher Nolan's entire feature-length filmography. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-blizzard-china-controversy-explained&captions=true"] IGN reporter Matt Kim also earned a nomination in the category of Online: Entertainment News (Music/Performers) for his November 2019 piece "Blizzcon Protesters Share Why They're Fighting For Free Speech at Blizzard's Big Event." Written in the wake of Blizzard's decision to punish Hearthstone player Ng Wai "Blitzchung" Chung following his public support of the Hong Kong protests, the piece explores how many Blizzcon attendees sought to protest Blizzard's decision and raise awareness of the situation in Hong Kong. Bloomberg News' Lucas Shaw took home the top prize in the category for his reporting "Bollywood Rapper Sets Viewer Record YouTube Isn’t Talking About." These are IGN's first wins and first nominations in the L.A. Press Club SoCal Journalism Awards. IGN wishes congratulations to all of the winners of the 2020 SoCal Journalism Awards, which were announced on Saturday, August 29th.