Radio & Television News Association’s Golden Mike Awards® Honors PBS SoCal Local Programs ARTBOUND, LOST LA, ART HAPPENS HERE WITH JOHN LITHGOW And More With Five Awards for Outstanding Broadcast Journalism
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Allison Gray
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AGray@pbssocal.org
Los Angeles, Calif. – April 1, 2025 – PBS SoCal, Southern California’s flagship PBS organization, announced this morning a total of five wins from the 75th Annual Golden Mike® Awards presented in-person by the Radio & Television News Association (RTNA) of Southern California on Saturday, March 29, 2025 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel. PBS SoCal was honored in the Division A categories for locally produced arts and culture series ARTBOUND’s “Chinatown Punk Wars” with the Sam Rubin Award for Best Entertainment Reporting while the PBS Digital Studios series STOP SAVING THE PLANET? was recognized in the Best Environmental Reporting category as well as Best Business and Consumer Reporting. Additional wins were received for ART HAPPENS HERE WITH JOHN LITHGOW as a Best Long Form Program or Documentary, as well as LOST LA’s “Tuberculosis: The Forgotten Plague” for Best Individual Writing. The five wins came after receiving seventeen nominations across seven categories in early February, the most nominations by any television or radio station at this year’s awards. The Golden Mike Awards is the longest running broadcast news awards show in America, and one of the most distinguished because some of the top journalists across America do the judging.
The locally produced, award-winning arts and culture series ARTBOUND originally aired the documentary “Chinatown Punk Wars” in the fall of 2023. The film chronicles how in the late 1970s, two Chinese restaurants became the unlikely epicenter of L.A.’s burgeoning punk rock scene. The emerging music form featured fast-paced songs and hard-edged melodies with anti-establishment messaging. As told through interviews with John Doe (X), Alice Bag (The Bags), Keith Morris (Circle Jerks, Black Flag, OFF!), and Martin Wong (Save Music in Chinatown) featuring music from current performers such as The Linda Lindas and more. ARTBOUND is supported in part by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture, the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, the Frieda Berlinski Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, GRoW@Annenberg and other generous institutional funders.
The digital series STOP SAVING THE PLANET? premiered in March of 2024 as a six-episode streaming series for PBS Digital Studios based on the book by Jenny Price, that explores large systemic changes needed to tackle environmental crises effectively in order to “Start Changing the World.” Hosted by wildlife ecologist and conservation scientist Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, episodes were available for streaming on PBSSoCal.org, YouTube.com/PBSTerra and on the free PBS App releasing weekly.
A PBS national special, ART HAPPENS HERE WITH JOHN LITHGOW originally aired in April 2024. Actor, author, humorist and renowned performer John Lithgow (“Killers of the Flower Moon,” “The Crown,” “Conclave”) shared his passion for arts education by joining students and teachers at four Los Angeles organizations, diving into four arts disciplines: dance, ceramics, silk-screen printing and vocal jazz ensemble. Celebrating how arts education nurtures and inspires the hearts and minds of students of all ages, ART HAPPENS HERE followed Lithgow as he tried his hand at singing, dancing, printmaking, and pottery, working alongside and learning from young people whose lives are being transformed by art. Major funding for ART HAPPENS HERE WITH JOHN LITHGOW was provided by John and Louise Bryson. Additional funding was provided by the California Community Foundation.
Locally produced history series LOST LA originally aired “Tuberculosis: The Forgotten Plague” in January 2024. In the show, archives revealed the “forgotten plague” that shaped Southern California. Host Nathan Masters explored how California’s fresh air and cheap land drew consumptives to local sanatoriums as well as the stark reality of life as a tuberculosis patient. Featured interviews included: USC’s William Deverell, LA Times’ Patt Morrison and infectious disease specialist Dr. Brenda Jones. A co-production with the University of Southern California Libraries, LOST LA is supported by The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture and Creative Recovery LA and other generous institutional funders.
The RTNA salutes the best in broadcast journalism on an annual basis in Southern and Central California. From breaking news to documentaries, awards for outstanding work were presented to reporters, videographers, producers, writers, and managers at Radio and TV stations from San Diego to Fresno. The RTNA is a nonprofit organization representing broadcast news professionals throughout Southern California and coordinates TV pool coverage of major news events in the region, fights for freedom of information causes and provides scholarships for the next generation of broadcast journalists.
About PBS SoCal
PBS SoCal uses the power of public media for good, strengthening the civic fabric of Southern California and providing our community with an essential connection to a wider world. As a local, donor/member-supported non-profit organization, PBS SoCal manages 7 channels — including 2 primary broadcast channels, PBS SoCal and PBS SoCal Plus as well as 5 digital subchannels. With a commitment to make content available anytime and anywhere for free, PBS SoCal reaches nearly 19M viewers in the region with programming that reflects the diversity of Southern California and showcases the full schedule of beloved and trusted PBS content spanning Education, News, Environment and Arts & Culture. PBS SoCal programming is available to viewers over-the-air, on all key streaming platforms via the free PBS App and PBS KIDS App. PBS SoCal also sparks the sharing of ideas at in-person cultural events and community conversations as well as prepares children for kindergarten and beyond by bringing bilingual, hands-on learning experiences to the community for free.