I’m honored and thrilled to be named a 5-time finalist in the 67th Southern California Journalism Awards, presented by the Los Angeles Press Club. With more than 2,500 entries submitted—breaking all previous records—this year’s awards spotlight the most impactful storytelling across media.
My work has been recognized in four categories—spanning podcasting, TV, travel, and digital journalism—and reflects my continued passion for sharing powerful, meaningful stories of place, purpose, and people making a difference. From TV segments and podcast episodes to lifestyle features, each piece honors the culture, connections, and experiences that move us.
Lifestyle Feature (Podcast)“How Alex Jimenez Transformed Her Passion into a Thriving Travel Community”
On Make Your Own Map, Alex opens up about building Travel Fashion Girl and Women’s Travel Fest into vibrant communities for women travelers. Her entrepreneurial journey and empowering message earned recognition in this lifestyle storytelling category.
Lifestyle Feature (Podcast) & Travel Reporting (Podcast)“Neville McConachie’s Tales of the Giant’s Causeway”
This episode, also from Make Your Own Map, was recorded as part of my Jet Set TV travel special on Ireland—recently honored with a Telly Award. Neville’s storytelling brought the magic and mystery of Northern Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway to life and earned recognition in two categories.
TV/Streaming/Radio FeatureIcon of the Seas – The World’s Largest Cruise Ship
Featured on The Jet Set TV, this segment explored Royal Caribbean’s record-breaking ship. It’s a story of innovation, scale, and the joy of cruising—nominated in a category alongside some of the industry’s best travel broadcasters.
Online Journalist of the Year
I’m especially proud to once again be a finalist for Online Journalist of the Year, honoring the full spectrum of my digital reporting, interviews, and multimedia storytelling. This is my 3rd finalist nomination for Online Journalist of the Year!
I’m incredibly grateful to The Jet Set TV team, my podcast guests, and the editors and collaborators who help bring these stories to life. Thank you for traveling this journey with me—can’t wait to see what’s next!
5x Finalist! Travel, TV & Tales That Made the Judges Take Note
A6. ONLINE JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR, Independent/Freelance
Lisa Niver, Freelance
Nico Lang, Queer News Daily
Lyndsey Parker, Freelance
John Regardie, Freelance
Aitana Vargas, Freelance
B4. TRAVEL REPORTING
Lisa Niver, Make Your Own Map, “Neville McConachie’s Tales of the Giant’s Causeway”
Angela Boisvert, Matt Bass, Tamara Gould, Nathan Masters, Kathy Kasaba, PBS SoCal, “Lost LA: Hiking Trailblazers”
Ruksana Hussain, Fodor’s Travel, “How to Behave When Visiting Sites of Remembrance”
Michele Stueven, LA Weekly, “ON THE HORIZON 100 Years of Filmmaking in Utah”
Susan Valot, KCRW, “‘Just as special as Disneyland,’ backyard trains draw crowds”
Lisa Niver,Make Your Own Map, “How Alex Jimenez Transformed Her Passion into a Thriving Travel Community”
Lisa Niver, Make Your Own Map, “Ireland: Neville’s Stories at Giant’s Causeway”
Jonathan Bastian, Andrea Brody, KCRW, “The Serviceberry’: Robin Wall Kimmerer’s guide to the gift economy”
Caroline Feraday, KCLU Radio, “A master whiskey distiller from Scotland is putting Oxnard on the map”
Juuso Määttänen, Annenbergmedia, “Eli Everfly helps up-and-coming L.A. wrestlers get ahead”
How Alex Jimenez Transformed Her Passion into a Thriving Travel Community
Lisa Niver, The Jet Set TV, “Lisa Niver Onboard Icon of the Seas”
Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, “Hallmark Holiday Stars Won’t Be Ignored by Hollywood Anymore: ‘I Treat Each Production Like a Martin Scorsese Film’”
Mesfin Fekadu, The Hollywood Reporter, “‘Abbott Elementary’ and The Glow Up of Janine Teagues”
James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, “How ‘The Chosen’ Creator Turned the Bible Into Binge TV”
J. Kim Murphy, Variety, “Welcome to ‘Ren Faire’: Lance Oppenheim’s HBO Docuseries Follows a Festival Trapped in a Real-Life Game of Thrones”
The Jet Set TV: Lisa Niver takes us onboard the ICONIC Icon of the Seas
Jet Set Correspondent Lisa Niver set sail on the World’s Largest Cruise ship to give us a look inside!
Thank you The Jet Set TV, Nikki Noya & Bobby Laurie for allowing me to share about Royal Caribbean International’s brand new ship, ICON OF THE SEAS on your travel TV show.
Thank you to the INCREDIBLE & ICONIC production team — Option A Group, Lisa Williams, Sam Harris, Jason Mangini and Patrick Gruss for this amazing segment.
Thank you to TEAM Ketchum –Aaron Kokoruz Jessica Milton Spencer Bullard Amanda Gadaleta Alonso–for another amazing adventure, especially saving me a spot on Crown’s Edge 🙂
Lisa Niver won a 2025 Telly Award for her Travel TV special about Ireland which aired on The Jet Set TV!
https://youtu.be/h1rIvYuti6U
Lisa Niver has won many awards including a TELLY! From 2017 to 2025, in the Southern California Journalism Awards and National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards, she has won nine times and been a finalist forty times for a variety of broadcast, print, podcast and digital categories.
2025 Winner: Silver Telly Award for Celtic Charm travel special!
2025 5x Finalist: Southern California Journalism Awards for Online Journalist of the Year, TV/Streaming/Radio Feature, Lifestyle Feature (Podcast) & Travel Reporting (Podcast)
2024 Winner: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards Diversity in the Entertainment Industry
2024 4x Finalist: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards finalist for Online Journalist of the Year, and for three of my podcast interviews with Beth Santos, Wanderful, Carolyn Ray, JourneyWoman, and Samantha Brown, Places to Love.
2024 6x Finalist: Southern California Journalism Awards for Online Journalist of the Year, Podcast Host and for my podcast interviews with Andrew McCarthy, Samantha Brown, Tony Phelan and Christie Tate
2023 Winner: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards Diversity in Entertainment
2023 3x Finalist: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards
2023 2x Finalist: Southern California Journalism Awards for Travel Reporting and Podcast Interview
Have you read my memoir, BRAVE-ish? My book has won 10 awards!
2025 International Impact Book Awards—Travel
2024 Gold Medal – Inspirational – North American Book Awards
2024 Gold Bookfest Award – Nonfiction Memoir Travel
2024 Gold Nonfiction Book Award – Nonfiction Authors Association
2024 Literary Titan Gold Book Award – Non-fiction
2024 Silver Bookfest Award – Nonfiction Self-Help Inspiration
2024 Readers’ Favorite Honorable Mention – Non-Fiction – Women’s Genre
2023 Hearten Book Awards First Place Winner – Inspiring & Uplifting Non-Fiction
2023 Zibby Awards Runner-up – Best Book for The Strong Woman2023 Goody Business Book Awards Winner – Memoir/Self-Help
Featured in Conde Nast Traveler Women Who Travel Book Club: 10 New Books We Can’t Wait to Read this FallAs seen in Forbes Best New NonFiction
In the aftermath of Oct. 7, language itself began to falter. Words no longer carried shared resonance, provoking confusion, trauma or defensiveness. The case for rebuilding a shared Jewish lexicon.
At Jewish Health’s Grancell Village campus in Reseda, a capacity crowd of friends, relatives and staffers applauded their agreement in saluting the largest bar and bat mitzvah class in its 113-year history.
In this New Year, we will find ourselves called upon to carry forward the responsibilities of leadership, the obligations of community building, the requirements of advancing Jewish civic interests.
You think the lives of Palestinians are going to be better than today within a Palestinian state? Look at Gaza, look at Syria, look at Yemen and think again.
Most Jews don’t understand what is taking shape in Christian America. They fear it, conflate its diverse voices and want to denounce it with great moral force, as if that will somehow make it all go away.
Much like in other parts of the world, most of those who criticize Israel in Latin America have little or no grasp of the realities on the ground, yet they readily join the chorus of demonization.
TV, Podcasts & Passion Projects: I’m a 5-Time Finalist!
Lisa Ellen Niver
Southern California Journalism Awards 2025: 5 Finalist Nominations. 4 Categories. 1 Storytelling Heart.
I’m honored and thrilled to be named a 5-time finalist in the 67th Southern California Journalism Awards, presented by the Los Angeles Press Club. With more than 2,500 entries submitted—breaking all previous records—this year’s awards spotlight the most impactful storytelling across media. My work has been recognized in four categories—spanning podcasting, TV, travel, and digital journalism—and reflects my continued passion for sharing powerful, meaningful stories of place, purpose, and people making a difference. From TV segments and podcast episodes to lifestyle features, each piece honors the culture, connections, and experiences that move us. Lifestyle Feature (Podcast) “How Alex Jimenez Transformed Her Passion into a Thriving Travel Community” On Make Your Own Map, Alex opens up about building Travel Fashion Girl and Women’s Travel Fest into vibrant communities for women travelers. Her entrepreneurial journey and empowering message earned recognition in this lifestyle storytelling category. Lifestyle Feature (Podcast) & Travel Reporting (Podcast) “Neville McConachie’s Tales of the Giant’s Causeway” This episode, also from Make Your Own Map, was recorded as part of my Jet Set TV travel special on Ireland—recently honored with a Telly Award. Neville’s storytelling brought the magic and mystery of Northern Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway to life and earned recognition in two categories. TV/Streaming/Radio Feature Icon of the Seas – The World’s Largest Cruise Ship Featured on The Jet Set TV, this segment explored Royal Caribbean’s record-breaking ship. It’s a story of innovation, scale, and the joy of cruising—nominated in a category alongside some of the industry’s best travel broadcasters. Online Journalist of the Year I’m especially proud to once again be a finalist for Online Journalist of the Year, honoring the full spectrum of my digital reporting, interviews, and multimedia storytelling. This is my 3rd finalist nomination for Online Journalist of the Year! I’m incredibly grateful to The Jet Set TV team, my podcast guests, and the editors and collaborators who help bring these stories to life. Thank you for traveling this journey with me—can’t wait to see what’s next!5x Finalist! Travel, TV & Tales That Made the Judges Take Note
A6. ONLINE JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR, Independent/Freelance
Lisa Niver, Freelance Nico Lang, Queer News Daily Lyndsey Parker, Freelance John Regardie, Freelance Aitana Vargas, FreelanceB4. TRAVEL REPORTING
Lisa Niver, Make Your Own Map, “Neville McConachie’s Tales of the Giant’s Causeway” Angela Boisvert, Matt Bass, Tamara Gould, Nathan Masters, Kathy Kasaba, PBS SoCal, “Lost LA: Hiking Trailblazers” Ruksana Hussain, Fodor’s Travel, “How to Behave When Visiting Sites of Remembrance” Michele Stueven, LA Weekly, “ON THE HORIZON 100 Years of Filmmaking in Utah” Susan Valot, KCRW, “‘Just as special as Disneyland,’ backyard trains draw crowds”K4. LIFESTYLE FEATURE
Lisa Niver, Make Your Own Map, “How Alex Jimenez Transformed Her Passion into a Thriving Travel Community” Lisa Niver, Make Your Own Map, “Ireland: Neville’s Stories at Giant’s Causeway” Jonathan Bastian, Andrea Brody, KCRW, “The Serviceberry’: Robin Wall Kimmerer’s guide to the gift economy” Caroline Feraday, KCLU Radio, “A master whiskey distiller from Scotland is putting Oxnard on the map” Juuso Määttänen, Annenbergmedia, “Eli Everfly helps up-and-coming L.A. wrestlers get ahead”L21. TV/STREAMING/RADIO FEATURE
Lisa Niver, The Jet Set TV, “Lisa Niver Onboard Icon of the Seas” Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, “Hallmark Holiday Stars Won’t Be Ignored by Hollywood Anymore: ‘I Treat Each Production Like a Martin Scorsese Film’” Mesfin Fekadu, The Hollywood Reporter, “‘Abbott Elementary’ and The Glow Up of Janine Teagues” James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, “How ‘The Chosen’ Creator Turned the Bible Into Binge TV” J. Kim Murphy, Variety, “Welcome to ‘Ren Faire’: Lance Oppenheim’s HBO Docuseries Follows a Festival Trapped in a Real-Life Game of Thrones” The Jet Set TV: Lisa Niver takes us onboard the ICONIC Icon of the SeasLisa Niver won a 2025 Telly Award for her Travel TV special about Ireland which aired on The Jet Set TV!
- 2019 Winner: NAEJ Award for KTLA TV segment
- 2019 Finalist: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards in three categories
- Category H2a. Soft News: Ms. Magazine: Polar Bears Can’t Vote So You Have To
- Category F6a. Soft News Feature – Under 5 Minutes—Film/TV: KTLA TV Oscars Countdown to Gold with Lisa Niver
- Category C1b. Business, Music/Tech/Art: My Wharton Magazine article: Four Female Founders Share Their Origin Stories
- 2019 Finalist: Southern California Journalism Awards for Broadcast Television Lifestyle Segment: Ogden Ski Getaway
- 2018 Finalist for three categories of Southern California Journalism Awards:
- SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY REPORTING: Smithsonian
- TRAVEL REPORTING: Popsugar Fitness
- PERSONALITY PROFILE: Saturday Evening Post
- 2017 2nd place winner for Southern California Journalism Award Print Column “A journey to freedom over three Passovers” and finalist for Travel Reporting.
More about Lisa Niver: https://lisaniver.com/awards/Have you read my memoir, BRAVE-ish? My book has won 10 awards!
2025 International Impact Book Awards—Travel 2024 Gold Medal – Inspirational – North American Book Awards 2024 Gold Bookfest Award – Nonfiction Memoir Travel 2024 Gold Nonfiction Book Award – Nonfiction Authors Association 2024 Literary Titan Gold Book Award – Non-fiction 2024 Silver Bookfest Award – Nonfiction Self-Help Inspiration 2024 Readers’ Favorite Honorable Mention – Non-Fiction – Women’s Genre 2023 Hearten Book Awards First Place Winner – Inspiring & Uplifting Non-Fiction 2023 Zibby Awards Runner-up – Best Book for The Strong Woman2023 Goody Business Book Awards Winner – Memoir/Self-Help Featured in Conde Nast Traveler Women Who Travel Book Club: 10 New Books We Can’t Wait to Read this Fall As seen in Forbes Best New NonFictionDid you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.
Editor's Picks
Israel and the Internet Wars – A Professional Social Media Review
The Invisible Student: A Tale of Homelessness at UCLA and USC
What Ever Happened to the LA Times?
Who Are the Jews On Joe Biden’s Cabinet?
You’re Not a Bad Jewish Mom If Your Kid Wants Santa Claus to Come to Your House
No Labels: The Group Fighting for the Political Center
Latest Articles
Rabbis of LA | Rabbi Schaffer Found a Happy Home in the Classroom
JNF-USA Golf Classic, OBKLA Breaks Record, IDFWO Names Exec Director
The Smart Traveler’s Secret: When the World’s Most Coveted Destinations Reveal Their True Magic.
A Bisl Torah — You Can Do Better
Moses Unbound
11 Quotes Worth Repeating from the Jewish American Summit
Actors, Musicians, Entertainment Leaders Push Back Against Growing Israel Boycott
Open letter from Creative Community for Peace garners more than 1,200 signatures.
Kol Nidre
I heard Kol Nidre on a viola tonight…
“Hinenu” Book Captures Israel’s People and Personalities as Population Hits 10 Million
The author and photographer knew that this was a way he could contribute to the conversation and make a difference – one portrait at a time.
June Squibb Reprises Jacob’s Choice in Scarlett Johansson’s Moving Debut
Eleanor the Great is a funny, emotional, and thought-provoking story about the tales we tell and why we tell them.
A Moment in Time: “A New Year – and our Quota of Words”
Repentance and Repairing Broken Pottery on Kol Nidrei
Finding Her Light: Michele Kuvin Kupfer’s Journey from Trauma to Triumph
A former therapist turned filmmaker confronts a lifetime of pain while returning to competitive swimming after 40 years
Print Issue: When Words Break | September 26, 2025
In the aftermath of Oct. 7, language itself began to falter. Words no longer carried shared resonance, provoking confusion, trauma or defensiveness. The case for rebuilding a shared Jewish lexicon.
Never Too Late for a Bar or Bat Mitzvah
At Jewish Health’s Grancell Village campus in Reseda, a capacity crowd of friends, relatives and staffers applauded their agreement in saluting the largest bar and bat mitzvah class in its 113-year history.
Jewish Students Turn Grief into Celebration at Club TLV
As the music swelled and the crowd bounced to the beat, the message was clear: Jewish pride is not only surviving on campus, it’s thriving.
A Costly Dream: Life for Undocumented Israelis in LA
Many undocumented Israelis are fearful of remaining in the U.S. illegally and are desperately seeking solutions.
Something Delicious: A Shorba Soup
Shorba, the tomato, chicken and rice soup recipe that we highlight here is a beloved classic from the Babylonian kitchen.
Festive Cocktails for Fall and High Holiday Season
Alcohol symbolizes joy, celebration and abundance. This is especially important during the fall’s Jewish holidays.
Table for Five: Yom Kippur
Inner Transformation
Did Tikkun Olam Shrink Our Tradition?
Who needs to build a sukkah to remember our ancestors in the desert when I could just go volunteer at a soup kitchen?
Ten Secrets to Academic Success | Fighting Educational Malpractice Personally: What Do I Do with a Politicized Prof – or Teacher
Sixth in a series
On 5786, A Protocol for Action in This New Year
In this New Year, we will find ourselves called upon to carry forward the responsibilities of leadership, the obligations of community building, the requirements of advancing Jewish civic interests.
Rosner’s Domain | Tell Me More About the State You Just Recognized …
You think the lives of Palestinians are going to be better than today within a Palestinian state? Look at Gaza, look at Syria, look at Yemen and think again.
How Not to Respond to the Charlie Kirk Memorial Service
Most Jews don’t understand what is taking shape in Christian America. They fear it, conflate its diverse voices and want to denounce it with great moral force, as if that will somehow make it all go away.
Living as Jews in Latin America After Oct. 7
Much like in other parts of the world, most of those who criticize Israel in Latin America have little or no grasp of the realities on the ground, yet they readily join the chorus of demonization.
More news and opinions than at a
Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.