The Los Angeles Press Club is getting into the non-geographic awards game, announcing it will accept entries (for $35 each) and give out the National Entertainment Journalism Awards next year. It's apparently about rewarding rising stars.

Entertainment reporters, editors and critics across the country are invited to enter a new journalism contest that honors those who write, speak or blog about one of the nation's most important industries....

"Through our new NEJ awards, we hope to reach hundreds of entertainment journalists around the country who may not have had a worthy forum to make peers aware of their top-quality work," said Press Club President, Anthea Raymond, a veteran radio producer. "We're going to honor the rising stars of journalism who cover the rising stars of the entertainment world."

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The winners will be announced the week leading up to the Academy Awards on February 24th at a gala party at the Press Club's headquarters in Hollywood.

The finalist judges will include former long-time entertainment reporter and columnist, Alex Ben Block, who was most recently editor of Television Week and formerly chief of the Hollywood Reporter; Ted Johnson, Daily Variety's managing editor and USA TODAY film critic, Claudia Puig.

The awards were pushed by USA Today reporter Chris Woodyard, a Press Club board member.