Six Southland media veterans were announced today as recipients of the annual Distinguished Journalist Awards presented by the Society of Professional Journalists, Greater Los Angeles Pro chapter.
Mark Acosta, metro editor of The Press-Enterprise and the Southern California News Group; Joanne Griffith, chief content officer at Marketplace; Lolita Lopez, investigative reporter and anchor at NBC4; Larry Maestas, managing editor of the Southern California News Group; Diana Martinez, editor of the San Fernando Valley Sun; and longtime journalist Teresa Watanabe, previously of the Los Angeles Times; will be honored during the 49th annual Distinguished Journalist Awards Banquet on Oct. 22 at the Castaway restaurant in Burbank.
SPJ/LA will also present a Freedom of Information Award to Los Angeles Public Library City Librarian John F. Szabo. The award is given to a non-journalist who “has helped further the free flow of information and championed freedom of the press.”
Two students will also be recognized for showing “promise as emerging journalists.” The honorees will be Delilah Brumer of Pierce College and Lex Wang of UCLA.
Distinguished Journalist Award honorees are nominated by SoCal journalists and chosen by the SPJ/LA board “in recognition of their outstanding contributions in the field.”
— Griffith is chief content officer of American Public Media’s Marketplace, overseeing its multichannel strategy across broadcast, on-demand and digital platforms. She joined Marketplace in 2025 after four years leading podcast strategy for APM Studios.
— Acosta is a metro editor for The Press-Enterprise and SCNG in the Inland Empire. He started at The Press-Enterprise as a summer intern in 1990 and began working there full time in 1991. As a reporter, he covered public safety and government in Riverside County and won several writing awards from the SPJ’s Inland Empire chapter before moving to editing in 2002.
— Maestas, managing editor of the SCNG design center, has been a general assignment reporter, sports writer, photographer, designer, copy editor, sports editor and news editor in Southern California publications ranging from the High Desert to Los Angeles.
— Lopez has been with NBC4 since 2011 and has won several Los Angeles area Emmy Awards for her live anchoring and investigative reports. Prior to joining NBC4, Lopez spent a decade at WPIX-TV in New York as a general assignment reporter and a sports anchor and on-field reporter for the New York Mets.
— Watanabe’s career has included covering breaking news, in-depth features and analysis across local, state, national and international beats. She worked at the Los Angeles Times for 35 years, covering education, immigration, ethnic communities, religion, and Pacific Rim business and served as Tokyo correspondent and bureau chief. She also covered Asia, national affairs, state government and Southern California for the San Jose Mercury News.
— Martinez is a veteran journalist, editor and news director who has worked in all facets of media in broadcast and print for numerous public and commercial media outlets, including directing the 24-hour newsroom at KFWB CBS Newsradio as an editor, and successfully rebuilding The San Fernando Valley Sun community newspaper.