AllYourScreens.com and founder Rick Ellis have picked up a nomination for the 17th annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards, the organization announced Tuesday.
The Rick Ellis investigative piece entitled Matthew Feeney Was Minnesota's Quiet On Set Moment focused on the story of former child actor casting agent and coach Matthew Feeney, who pled guilty to sexually abusing two of his clients.
However, this case wasn't Feeney's first brush with law enforcement. He also faced charges in Massachusetts that he had sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy in 2011. Even more shocking to the parents of some of Feeney's Minnesota acting clients, in 1993 he had been placed on ten years probation for molesting a 13-year-old boy in his home in 1990, as well as two other minors at a youth summer camp.
And that is just the beginning of the story that includes multiple cases of abuse spread across at least three Minnesota counties and two states, over the course of more than two decades.
The piece is a finalist for the David Robb Investigative Civil Justice Award.
This is how the award is described by the LA Press Club, which organizes the event:
This award is named after the late investigative reporter David Robb who covered Hollywood for 40+ years. The stories Robb investigated and reported upon changed the entertainment industry for the better. The recipient of this award has shown that their series of stories or body of work is continuing this important legacy of civil justice reporting in the entertainment industry.
David Robb worked tirelessly to expose injustices, prejudices and corruption inside the entertainment industry. He wrote stories that shined a light on pedophiles working with children, long work hours imposed on children, and the fact that blacklisted writers of the 1950s still had not received their writing credits. He investigated and exposed injustices done to those living with disabilities, interns who were forced to work without pay, stuntwomen who were not protected, Native Americans, Black and other minorities who ran up against prejudice, and women and older writers who stood against ageism.
He also raised the profile of the good works of the Motion Picture Television Fund so the infirmed and retired entertainment industry employees would be certain of a secure future.
The David Robb Civil Justice Award is given to a reporter who embodies the same sense of civil and moral justice -- a journalist with high personal journalistic integrity, professionalism and standards who brings serious issues to the forefront.
These Civil Justice stories do not publish easily. A journalist must be tenacious enough to push it through an intense vetting by their own media outlet. The stories must be thoroughly reported with impeccable sourcing and documentation, strong enough to go through a bevy of questions from layers of editors. But the reporter who enters this field of reporting is a different breed because they also must be confident enough to handle attorney questions with measured but firm responses, often negotiating with multiple lawyers to get the stories published, sometimes one word at a time.
The David Robb Civil Justice Award is bestowed upon a journalist who continues to shine a light to right the wrongs in the entertainment industry in an effort to initiate positive change.
The award and $5,000 cash prize will be presented at the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards Gala on December 1st, 2024, at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Certificates will be provided for Second and Third Place.
