L.A. Times Wins 3 Awards From Society of Professional Journalists

The Times has won Sigma Delta Chi awards for excellence in editorial writing, Washington correspondence and general column writing during 2001, the Society of Professional Journalists announced Wednesday.

The editorial writing award went to Alex Raksin and Bob Sipchen for “Helping People Off the Street,” a collection of editorials exploring the issues and dilemmas of mentally ill people living on the streets. Raksin and Sipchen won a Pulitzer Prize for the same editorials.

Peter G. Gosselin won the Washington correspondence award for “Private Properties, Public Breakdowns,” an examination of the disparity between investments in personal luxuries in the 1990s and spending on common needs.

The general column award went to Steve Lopez for columns on professional passengers in the carpool lanes, the attack of a 7-foot lizard, an overzealous park ranger and other topics.

In all, the society named 49 winners. There were 1,396 entries from newspapers, wire services, radio stations, television broadcasters, newsletters, research organizations and Web sites.

“At a trying time for the country and for journalism, it’s all the more important that we hold up the best examples of our craft, which both serve the public and serve to inspire fellow journalists to overcome the various obstacles they face each day,” said the society’s president, Al Cross, a political writer and columnist for the Louisville Courier-Journal.

The awards will be presented in September at the society’s national convention in Fort Worth.