Ono earns multiple honors.
RAFU WIRE SERVICE AND STAFF REPORTS
ABC7 sports anchor Rob Fukuzaki was among those honored tonight during the Los Angeles Press Club’s 68th Southern California Journalism Awards Gala at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles.
Fukuzaki, the longtime weekday sports anchor for “ABC7 Eyewitness News,” received the Joseph M. Quinn Lifetime Achievement Award. He joined the station in 1994, becoming one of the few Japanese American male television news anchors in the Los Angeles market.
He is the host of special sports programming, like “Slam Dunk,” Rams pre- and post-game shows, “Saturday Night Sports,” and “Sunday Night Sports.”
In addition to his broadcasting career, Fukuzaki founded the Heads Up Youth Foundation in 1996. The nonprofit provides scholarships and educational assistance to disadvantaged students and foster youth in Southern California.
“I am truly humbled, honored and blown away with this distinguished recognition,” Fukuzaki said before the awards ceremony. “It also gives me great pride seeing the names who were honored before me, many who I look up to and who I feel so fortunate to call them colleagues and friends. Knowing I will be joining that list is overwhelming and so very humbling at the same time.”
“Rob Fukuzaki is for sure a household name in Los Angeles, but just as important as his high profile is his charitable work,” said Los Angeles Press Club President Danny Bakewell, Jr. “He is clearly a pillar of his community, with a strong belief in giving back.”
Fukuzaki’s ABC 7 colleague, news anchor and reporter David Ono, was named Journalist of the Year in the Television Journalist category.
Ono won an award in the Sports category for “FACEism: The Lantern,” which shows that long before Shohei Ohtani came to the Dodgers, the team had already established a strong relationsihp with Japan going back to the 1955 World Series. The judges called the piece “informative, engaging and succinct.”
Ono was also recognized in the Anchor/Host category. The judges said, “Working as an anchor is difficult work, but anchoring a breaking news story takes special talent and dedication. David Ono leads viewers through the fire coverage with confidence despite the fire’s and the coverage’s changing landscape.”
In the category of Non-Entertainment Personality Profile/Interview, Ono was honored for “FACEism: 9066,” in which Toshi Ito (mother of Judge Lance Ito) recounted being incarcerated with her family and other Japanese Americans during World War II.
The judges said, “An emotional illustration of how the past informs the present, through the powerful interview of Toshi Ito.”
In his production “Defining Courage,” which has been presented live across the country, Ono documents the heroism of the Nisei soldiers who served in Europe and the Pacific during World War II.
Ono, who has been with ABC 7 since 1996, has covered disasters such as the Eaton and Pallisades fires, the Maui wildfires in 2023, the earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan in 2011, the Haiti earthquake in 2010, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, as well as drug trafficking in Central America, terrorism in Paris, the Boston Marathon bombing, and the death of Pope Francis.
He will receive the Governors Award during the 2026 Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards on July 25 at the Skirball Cultural Center.
Former Rafu Shimpo editor Gwen Muranaka was a runner-up in the category of Obituary/In Appreciation, Politics/Business/Arts Personalities for her Zocalo Public Square story “The Mexican American Photographer Who Captured Little Tokyo,” a profile of the late photojournalist Mario Gershom Reyes.
In the category of Environmental Reporting, Climate Change/Society, Hiroki Endo, Kenji Asada, Naomi Hayase, Yukiko Une and Noritaka Yada of Nikkei were runners-up for “Nikkei Film: The ‘Megadrought’ Striking the American Southwest.” They were also runners-up in the Feature category.
Founded more than a century ago, the Los Angeles Press Club represents journalists working in print, broadcast and digital media. Proceeds from the gala support scholarships, mentoring programs, educational initiatives and grants for investigative journalism.
To see a list of all of the winners and runners-up: https://lapressclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SoCal-2026-Winners-06262026-2311.pdf