{"id":207516,"date":"2026-06-01T15:44:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T15:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/207516\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T15:44:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T15:44:25","slug":"pittsburgh-magazine-freelancer-wins-black-media-federation-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/207516\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh Magazine Freelancer Wins Black Media Federation Award"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pittsburghmagazine.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/y\/m\/emmai-on-set-with-crew-photos-by-ya-momz-house-inc-20.jpeg\" data-lb-width=\"2000\" data-lb-height=\"1334\" class=\" photoswipe gtxlightbox\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-300853\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/emmai-on-set-with-crew-photos-by-ya-momz-house-inc-20-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"Emmai On Set With Crew Photos By Ya Momz House Inc 20\" width=\"770\" height=\"514\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">EMMAI ALAQUIVA | PHOTO BY SYDNEY MARTIN\/YA MOMZ HOUSE INC<\/p>\n<p>A Pittsburgh Magazine writer was honored last week with an award from the Pittsburgh Black Media Foundation.<\/p>\n<p>The 37th Annual Vann Awards, which celebrate excellence in journalism and community impact, were held on May 28 at Point Park University\u2019s Lawrence Hall Downtown. Kahmeela Adams-Friedson, a longtime freelancer for Pittsburgh Magazine, took home an award in the Excellence in Written Journalism\/Magazines category for her profile, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pittsburghmagazine.com\/profile-emmai-alaquiva\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">The Cinematic Poet<\/a>,\u201d which tells the story of the Wilkinsburg film director and producer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.emmaialaquiva.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Emmai Alaquiva<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Vann awards recognize journalism that goes the extra mile to make sure that marginalized voices and communities are heard, understood and valued as much as those with power and privilege,\u201d Ervin Dyer, chair of the Vann awards, says in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The Federation\u2019s panel of judges agreed that Adams-Friedson\u2019s piece did exactly that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe language in this piece is lively and does a good job capturing the history and life\u2019s work of the artist,\u201d judges wrote. They also praised Adams-Friedson\u2019s use of quotes, which they said added personal depth to the piece.<\/p>\n<p>The annual \u201cNight of Excellence,\u201d marks PBMF\u2019s 53rd year of advocating for fair and accurate representation of the African American community in the news, increasing the presence of journalists of color in media organizations and recognizing outstanding work in journalism.<\/p>\n<p>The Vann Awards honor journalists whose work reflects integrity, depth and a commitment to telling the full stories of the communities they cover.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to ensure that stories capture not only the facts as they are, but also the context and nuance that allow for fair and accurate reporting,\u201d Deborah Todd, PBMF president, says in a statement. \u201cJournalists must be willing to follow the truth wherever it leads, especially when it brings greater understanding to the communities they serve.\u201d\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EMMAI ALAQUIVA | PHOTO BY SYDNEY MARTIN\/YA MOMZ HOUSE INC A Pittsburgh Magazine writer was honored last week&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[9747,76205,91149,73,91150,75,74,91151],"class_list":["post-207516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-awards","tag-emmai-alaquiva","tag-kahmeela-adams-friedson","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-black-media-federation","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-vann-awards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}