The Advocate Triumphs at L.A. Press Club Awards

The Advocate's entertainment editor has been named Journalist of the Year.

Jase Peeples was conferred the high distinction at the L.A. Press Club's National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards, held Sunday at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

The event also honored veteran entertainment reporter Nancy O'Dell and the legendary music producer Quincy Jones.

Peeples, who has been helming the arts and entertainment coverage of Advocate.com since October 2013, bested journalists Amy Nicholson of L.A. Weekly, Gary Baum of The Hollywood Reporter, and Ben Fritz of The Wall Street Journal.

His name was revealed at the end of the evening from a sealed envelope presented by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which also guards the names of Oscar winners before announcement at the Academy Awards.

"Jase Peeples casts a new light on many beaten tracks of the entertainment journalism, with original angles and points of view," the judges noted in their comments. "His stories are not only well-written and captivating, they are also real eye-openers on many trends and topics of the entertainment industry."

Peeples is notably the first reporter from an LGBT outlet to become the L.A. Press Club's Journalist of the Year. In addition to the evening's big honor, he also won the Commentary/Analysis/Trend category for his Advocate op-ed "The Lasting Impact of Out TV Teens on LGBT Youth," which the judges called "a thoughtful and moving reflection on the impact popular culture has on an individual's sense of identity."

Moreover, "A Nightmare in Hollywood Couldn't Kill Mark Patton," Peeples's cover story for The Advocate's sister magazine HIV Plus, beat the competition in the category of Personality Profile. The tell-all piece, which chronicled the story of a gay actor's fight with HIV and homophobia in Hollywood, was described by the judges as a "gripping story offering, through the moving profile of an actor trapped in the 1980s Hollywood, the depiction of a very dark side of the film industry."

His interview with actor Theo James, "Is Divergent Sci-Fi's First Successful Bisexual Allegory?" was also nominated at the ceremony, receiving the distinction of runner-up in the Celebrity Feature category.

"I'm so thankful to the L.A. Press Club for the honor, and for recognizing The Advocate's dedication to presenting a view of entertainment through a queer lens," Peeples said. "I'm grateful to be a voice in the chorus of LGBT people who are telling our stories."

The Advocate distinguished itself in several other categories at the L.A. Press Club event. Reporters Daniel Reynolds, Sunnivie Brydum, and Parker Marie Molloy came in second place in the Industry/Arts Feature category for the article "Is the T Word the New N Word?" which shined a spotlight on the use of transphobic language in LGBT media.

Diane Anderson-Minshall, The Advocate's editor at large, was also nominated for her HIV Plus cover story on Matt Bomer and The Normal Heart.The Advocate Gaysayer, a humorous Twitter feed helmed by comedian Jami Smith, came in third place in Best Use of Social Media for "Blanche Week," an online roast of LGBT celebrities.

For a full list of L.A. Press Club's National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award honorees, visit LAPressClub.org.