Gary Kohatsu, Mina Kimes to be honored as journalists gather on Oct. 7.
Ann Burroughs, president and CEO of the Japanese American National Museum and National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, will receive the Freedom of Information Award at the Los Angeles Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists’ 50th annual awards celebration on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at the Castaway in Burbank.
The Freedom of Information Award, created in 1976, is given to people who have helped further the free flow of information and championed freedom of the press. The award is not given every year, and the recipients usually are not journalists.
An internationally recognized human rights and social justice leader, Burroughs serves as chair of the International Board of Directors of Amnesty International and previously chaired Amnesty International’s Global Assembly. She also serves on the board of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation.
Her lifelong commitment to racial and social justice was shaped by her experience as a young activist in her native South Africa, where she was imprisoned for opposing apartheid. For more than 25 years, she has worked with leaders, organizations, and networks in the U.S. and abroad to advance racial justice and human rights.
Her previous roles include executive director of the Taproot Foundation and L.A. Works, as well as consulting for philanthropic organizations including the Omidyar Network and the Rockefeller Foundation.
Honorees are Christine Devine, news anchor, Fox 11; Mariel Garza, co-founder and executive editor of Golden State; Mina Kimes, ESPN; Larry Wilson, Southern California News Group; Dr. Paulette Brown-Hinds, founder of Voice Media Ventures and publisher of Black Voice News; and Gary Kohatsu, editor of Gardena Valley News and Culver City News.
The chapter will also recognize the 100th anniversary of La Opinión, the country’s leading Spanish-language daily newspaper, as well as two promising journalism students, Nikki Yunker from El Camino College and Blake Fagan from CSU Northridge.
Gary Kohatsu has spent more than three decades proving that extraordinary journalism happens in community newsrooms.
An award-winning photojournalist, editor and educator, Kohatsu
began his journalism career at the Gardena Valley News in 1989 as a photographer and sportswriter and became editor just two years later. Over a remarkable 35-year career, he has chronicled the people, stories and defining moments of the communities he serves through both words and images.
Today, Kohatsu serves as editor of both the Gardena Valley News and Culver City News, sister publications of Integrity Newspapers, Inc. His commitment to the next generation of journalists led him to establish an internship program with El Camino College and later teach photojournalism there for 12 years.
Through decades of reporting, photography, leadership and mentor-ship, Kohatsu has remained steadfast in his belief that local stories matter and that strong community journal-ism is essential.
Mina Kimes is an NFL analyst at ESPN, where she is one of the regulars on “NFL Live,” ESPN’s flagship football program, which won Sports Emmys for best daily studio show in 2025 and 2026. She also appears on shows such as “First Take” and “SportsCenter,” and hosts her own football podcast, “The Mina Kimes Show Featuring Lenny.”
Before joining ESPN as a senior writer for ESPN the Magazine in 2014, Kimes was an award-winning investigative journalist for Fortune Magazine and Bloomberg News.
Frank Mottek, business news anchor at KABC, will moderate the evening, which brings together Los Angeles area journalists from various media outlets to celebrate journalism and its importance to a free and informed society.
Tickets are $130 for members, $150 for non-members. Sponsorships and program advertising are also available and can be purchased at https://my.cheddarup.com/c/distinguished-journalist-awards-2026/items. Banquet proceeds benefit chapter programs, including scholarships, journalism education and freedom of information issues. For more information, email spjlosangeles@ gmail.com.
SPJ is a national, nonprofit journalism organization dedicated to promoting freedom of information, ethics, scholarship, and professional development. The Los Angeles Pro Chapter, established in 1934, is run strictly by volunteers. For more information on SPJ, visit www.spj.org or the L.A. chapter website, www.spjla.org, where you can also find a list of past honorees.