PDI Entertainment columnist wins LA journalism award

Ruben V. Nepales  Photo by Janet Susan R. Nepales

“I WAS proud to represent PDI,” said Inquirer columnist Ruben V. Nepales of his victory in the Los Angeles Press Club’s 2015 National Entertainment and Journalism (NAEJ) Awards in an e-mail to the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The awarding ceremony was held on Sunday evening (Monday in Manila) at the Crystal Ballroom of the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.

Nepales, an LA-based entertainment writer and correspondent, won third place in the feature photo category for his photograph of actor-filmmaker Clint Eastwood, which was featured in his thrice-weekly column, “Only In Hollywood,” on Jan. 4.

Other winners were photographers representing the Television Academy’s Emmy Magazine.

The NAEJ is a United States-wide journalism awards competition presented by the Los Angeles Press Club that focuses on arts and entertainment reporters and editors in various platforms.

The columnist was also a finalist in the general news category (print—newspapers or magazines) for his Feb. 27 story on actor Eddie Redmayne and other Academy awardees, titled “Backstage with ‘weird’ Oscar winner.”

In that category, he competed against journalists representing what he called “giants”—The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg News and Los Angeles Business Journal.

In 2012, Nepales won twice in the LA Press Club’s annual tilt: third place in the best columnist-print category for “Only In Hollywood,” and third prize for best book, “The Filipino Connection: The Philippines in Hollywood.”

Earlier this year, he won twice at the 57th Annual Southern California Journalism Awards. He won second in the best columnist/critic-international category for his 2014 feature on Stephen King, and third place in the news-international category for his report on Courtney Love in the same year.