L.A. Chapter of SPJ names editor of small Calif. daily one of year's five distinguished journalists

The editor of a small daily newspaper in the northern, rural section of Los Angeles County has been named one of five distinguished journalists to be honored by the Los Angeles Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists in March.

Dennis Anderson, right, became editor of the Antelope Valley Press , the only family-owned independent daily newspaper in Los Angeles County, in 1999. Since then, the newspaper has earned six general excellence rankings from the National Newspaper Association, one from Suburban Newspapers of America and a first place Freedom of Information award from the California Newspaper Publishers Association. Anderson came to the paper after 18 years with wire services in Washington, New York and Los Angeles. In 2004, SNA and the American Press Institute named Anderson Journalist of the Year for his articles, written while embedded with the California National Guard in Iraq, about local citizen soldiers. Anderson and his son, Garrett, a Marine who was in the second battle of Fallujah, are writing a book about Marine Corps casualties from World War I to Iraq. (Read more)