AceShowbiz -

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation announced some of the winners of its 24th annual Media Awards in New York on Saturday, March 16. Hosted by "Good Morning America" anchors Lara Spencer, Josh Elliott and Sam Champion, the event saw "Smash" and "The Amazing Race" as the winners in TV field.

The struggling NBC show, which stars Katharine McPhee and Debra Messing, nabbed the Outstanding Drama Series title, beating out the likes of "True Blood" and "Grey's Anatomy". The CBS long-running competition series was hailed as Outstanding Reality Program. It edged out "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" and "The Real L Word" among other contenders.

The New York leg additionally saw Madonna presenting Anderson Cooper with Vito Russo Award, which honors openly gay media professionals who have made a difference in promoting equality. "X Men:The Last Stand" and "Tower Heist" director Brett Ratner was honored with the inaugural Ally Award for his work in launching the "Coming Out for Equality" PSA campaign along with Comcast.

GLAAD also presented awards in documentary, print journalism and Broadway & Off Broadway theater categories that night. Other winners will be announced in a Los Angeles ceremony on April 20.

The 24th GLAAD Award winners announced on March 16:

• Outstanding Drama Series: "Smash" (NBC)
• Outstanding Documentary: How to Survive a Plague (Sundance Selects)
• Outstanding Reality Program: "The Amazing Race" (CBS)
• Outstanding Newspaper Article: "Game Changer" by Andy Mannix (City Pages [Minneapolis, Minn.])
• Outstanding Newspaper Columnist: Frank Bruni (The New York Times)
• Outstanding Newspaper Overall Coverage: The Boston Globe
• Outstanding Magazine Article: "School of Hate" by Sabrina Rubin Erdely (Rolling Stone)
• Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage: The Advocate/Out
• Outstanding New York Theatre: Broadway & Off Broadway: "The Whale" by Samuel D. Hunter
• Outstanding New York Theatre: Off-Off Broadway: "From White Plains" written by Michael Perlman in collaboration with Fault Line Theatre
• Outstanding Talk Show Interview: "Entrevista con Orlando Cruz" Titulares Telemundo (Telemundo)
• Outstanding Magazine Article: "Amor genuino" by Cristina Saralegui (People en Espanol)
• Outstanding Digital Journalism Article: "Operacion tolerancia: la lucha contra la homofobia en los medios hispanos" by Lilia Luciano (voces.huffingtonpost.com)
• Outstanding Digital Journalism - Multimedia: "2013: Ano clave para la comunidad gay" by Ramon Frisneda (ElDiarioNY.com)