R-J CRITIC WINS NATIONAL AWARD

Review-Journal music critic Jason Bracelin has been named one of the nation's best entertainment writers.

Bracelin, 31, won second place as Best Critic in the print media division of the first National Entertainment Journalism awards sponsored by the Los Angeles Press Club. The awards were established this year to honor the best entertainment reporting in newspapers, magazines, radio and television across the country. The first-place winner was Ella Taylor of the Los Angeles Weekly, and an honorable mention went to Michael Sraqow of the Baltimore Sun.

A music critic at the Review-Journal since 2006, Bracelin is a graduate of the University of Illinois. He began his career as intern for Cleveland-based music magazine "Alternative Press" before later serving as a music writer for the "Cleveland Free Times" and music editor for the "Cleveland Scene" alternative weeklies. Along the way, he's contributed to such music publications as "Blender," "Complex" and "Revolver" and numerous other weeklies. His stories have been featured on MTV and VH1, and he served as a panelist at the South By Southwest Music Conference in 2004.

The Review-Journal has received a number of national entertanment and feature writing awards over the past several years, including several honors from the American Association of Sunday and Features Editors.