Capital New York

While yesterday's Pulitzer Prize announcements were pretty much the main event when it comes to awards to members of the press, the next few months in Manhattan will bring a whole season of speeches and cocktail hours to recognize best efforts in the journalism community.

Such accolades are generally decided upon by a panel of judges, but the ceremonies are designed to make reporters and editors feel good; in some cases to provide a throwback to the days when this was a drinking profession; and most importantly to many struggling news organizations, to give those on the business side a little something to brag about during sales calls.

Here's a guide:

The Hillman Prizes on May 1 at the Times Center will honor "journalists who pursue investigative reporting and deep storytelling in service of the common good." Among their ranks this year are writers for The Atlantic, The New Yorker and The Los Angeles Times.

Two evenings later, magazine luminaries will convene at the New York Marriot Marquis for the 2012 National Magazine Awards, or "Ellies"—basically the glossy set's equivalent of the Pulitzers. This year's contest could get interesting. Will first-time nominee Vice defeat industry darlings The New Yorker, New York, GQ and Bloomberg Businessweek in the prestigious "general excellence" category? (God knows some of those titles already have enough crazy-looking elephant statues on their mantles.)

Quieter and presumably less boozy that same night, The Dart Center, a project of the Columbia Journalism School (which, as it happens, co-presents the Ellies with the National Society of Magazine Editors), will honor The New York Times and WNYC for excellence in coverage of trauma in a ceremony at the J-school.

Also in J-school awards, CUNY is set to hand out two of them at the Times Center May 14—one to Bloomberg News editor-in-chief Matthew Winkler for "lifetime achievement" and the other to cable TV "pioneer" Leonard Tow for "Distinguished Service to New York," the first distinction of its kind.

At the Waldorf Astoria on June 4 is the annual Deadline Club awards dinner, where you can expect to rub elbows with plenty of old guard New York media folk, like maybe Post reporter Keith Kelly, or Newsweek editor Tina Brown, the former of whom interviewed the latter during last year's gala. This year's headliner is "60 Minutes" star Steve Kroft, who "will discuss the 2012 election, the importance of television political reporting, and how political coverage in general is changing in a conversation with Stephen Shepard, the founding dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York," according to the Deadline Club. (Is there an awards show out there that doesn't have a J-school affiliation?) The 2012 finalists have yet to be announced.

Likewise pending announcement are the finalists in the 2012 New York Press Club awards, scheduled for June 11 on the banks of the East River. "On a late spring evening, few places are as delightful for mixing and mingling as the upper deck of Manhattan's Water Club," reads an announcement on the New York Press Club's website, which also mentions "business casual" attire and an open bar. Sold!

But if sipping a glass of white wine before noon is more your thing, you might try to score a seat at the Mirror Awards luncheon on June 13. Hosted by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, this is where reporters who report on reporters are recognized for their reporting. The finalists were announced on Monday, and, as Poynter's Steve Myers noted, their work "appeared in major publications like The New Yorker, The New York Times and The Washington Post, as well as niche sites like Poynter ... Nieman Journalism Lab and American Journalism Review." (And Capital: Disclosure—I am a finalist.) CNN's Anderson Cooper is emcee.

Capping off two months of media lauds before everyone runs off for the summer are the Gerald Loeb Awards for business and financial journalism on June 26. No word yet on the finalists or a venue, but last year's were at Capitale and put prizes into the hands of staffers from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg News, CNBC and various smaller outlets.

Have we missed any? Please drop us a line.

UPDATES:

• Two readers point out the Livingtston Awards for journalists under the age of 35. There's nothing on the awards' website about the 2012 ceremony, but we're told the finalists will be announced in early May.

• An employee of the Overseas Press Club wrote in to highlight the organization's awards gala for international reporting on April 25 at the Mandarin Oriental: "The candle to honor journalists who died in the past year will be lit by Joao Silva, The New York Times photographer who lost both legs to a land-mine accident while on assignment in southern Afghanistan in 2010. The OPC President’s Award recipient for lifetime achievement is Ted Turner."

• A commenter notes: "What about the ASJA Awards? They'll be given out at a cocktail party April 26, at the Roosevelt Hotel."

Joe Pompeo

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