Two of American TV’s most distinguished reporters, 60 Minutes Correspondent Lesley Stahl, and NBC News Senior Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel will be among those honored at the LA Press Club’s 53^rd Journalism Awards Gala, Sunday June 26 in the legendary Crystal Ballroom at the historic Biltmore  in downtown LA.

Stahl will receive the President’s Award for Impact on the Media. “She is a pioneering woman in television news whose career spans the era of Watergate to the digital age,” said LA Press Club President Will Lewis.

Engel, will be honored with the 2011 Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and Integrity.

The Daniel Pearl Award was created in 2002 by the LA Press Club and the family of Daniel Pearl in memory of the slain Wall Street Journal reporter.

Only recently, Engel was with Libyan rebels south of Benghazi when they came under fire by Gaddafi forces. He was on-camera when artillery rounds began exploding, forcing him to dive for cover. It helped bring the conflict home to millions Americans who watch NBC Nightly News.

Other top honors will go to LA Times Pulitzer-prize winning reporters Jeff Gottlieb and Ruben Vives and Fox 11 political/investigative reporter John Schwada.

This year’s awards show is dedicated to the memory of Dick Turpin, a former Club president and longtime board member and supporter. He is remembered for his 41 years at the LA Times for his time as a reporter, education editor and real estate editor.

Gottlieb and Vives will claim the LA Press Club’s first Public Service Award first announced in January. The two reporters helped the LA Times win a Pulitzer for breaking the city of Bell salary scandal.

Schwada, a political-government and investigative reporter for KTTV Fox 11 News in LA, will be honored with the Joseph M. Quinn Award for Journalistic Excellence and Distinction. He has won two LA area Emmy awards and a Golden Mike for three separate investigative reports. He is also a frequent contributor to blogs on the station’s website.

The citation reads in part: “From newspapers to TV reporting to blogs, he has quickly adapted to new platforms while continuing to excel in the coverage of local politics.”

Hundreds of media professionals will take part in the Southland’s oldest and most distinguished journalism gala at the Biltmore’s historic Crystal Room, where the Oscars were born some 80 plus years ago. Winners in this all-media competition will receive their “Oscar”—a handsome plaque with the historic press club logo, a printing press dating back to Colonial America.

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