Awards

2010 First Amendment Awards

Every year RTDNF honors individuals in the field of broadcast journalism for their work on behalf of press freedom.

The 20th Annual RTDNF First Amendment Awards Dinner will be held March 4, 2010, at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington. For table and ticket information e-mail firstamendment@rtndf.org or call Stacey Staniak at 202-467-5214 or click here.

6:30 p.m. -� cocktail reception &� 7:00 p.m. -� dinner

Ritz-Carlton
1150 22nd Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20037
(202) 835-0500

The 2010 honorees are:

* David Westin
President, ABC News
First Amendment Leadership Award
David Westin will receive the First Amendment Leadership Award, presented to a business or government leader who has made a significant contribution to protecting Freedom of the Press. David Westin has led ABC News since 1997. In that time ABC News has received top honors for broadcast journalism including: 5 George Polk Awards, 10 George Foster Peabody Awards, 12 Alfred I. duPont Awards, more than 35 News and Documentary Emmys and more than 40 Edward R. Murrow Awards. During the 2004 Democratic convention in Boston, Westin launched ABC News NOW, a 24-hour news service available on cable, wireless and broadband. In 2007, he announced the largest single expansion of foreign news coverage in ABC News history by sending seven digital reporters to Mumbai, New Delhi, Jakarta, Nairobi, Seoul, Dubai and Rio de Janeiro to report for all ABC News outlets and broadcasts.


* Harvey Nagler
Vice President, CBS News, Radio
First Amendment Service Award
Harvey Nagler will be honored with the First Amendment Service Award, which is presented to a person of distinction who works in an off-air, management capacity. Nagler was named Vice President, CBS News, Radio in January 1998. During his tenure the network won dozens of national and international awards. He was chosen Radio News Executive of the Year in 2006 and 2008 in a poll taken by Radio and Records magazine. Prior to joining CBS Radio News, Nagler was Director, News and Programming for WCBS-AM Newsradio 88, where he developed and implemented several practices that have been adopted or imitated by hundreds of stations across the country, including the slogan, “Traffic and Weather, Together on the ‘Eights.’” He joined WCBS-AM from the United Stations Radio Networks, where he had been Vice President, News and Sports (1985-87) and Director of News Operations (1979-84, then RKO Radio Networks). The network grew from a small group of stations to a news organization serving 500 affiliates.


* Brian Williams
Anchor and Managing Editor, NBC Nightly News
Leonard Zeidenberg First Amendment Award
Brian Williams will receive the Leonard Zeidenberg First Amendment Award, named for the late senior Washington correspondent for Broadcasting & Cable magazine. Williams joined NBC News in 1993 as a reporter and became NBC Chief White House correspondent. He was a News Anchor on MSNBC and CNBC before becoming Anchor and Managing Editor at NBC Nightly News in 2004. Williams has received the George Foster Peabody Award, the duPont-Columbia University Award, 6 Edward R. Murrow Awards and 7 Emmy Awards. Many of these honors were given to recognize his work covering Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath in New Orleans.


*Barbara Cochran
President Emeritus - RTDNA & RTDNF
First Amendment Award
Cochran retired in 2009 after 12 years at the helm of RTDNA. Her career includes service as vice-president and Washington bureau chief for CBS; executive producer for NBC's Meet the Press; vice-president of news for National Public Radio and managing editor of the Washington Star. She continues to work on behalf of RTDNA and RTDNF on Freedom of Information and First Amendment as president-emeritus of the organizations.

*Marcellus Alexander and National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation (NABEF)
First Amendment Award
Alexander serves as President of NABEF, in addition to his duties at NAB as executive vice-president for television. He has also served in a variety of station management positions, including vice-president and general manager of WJZ-TV in Baltimore. Alexander also served one tenure as station manager and another as VP and GM at KYW-TV in Philadelphia.


For information on becoming a sponsor for the 2010 First Amendment Awards dinner, click here

Dinner Emcee

Leon Harris, Anchor, WJLA-TV, Washington, DC will emcee the First Amendment Awards Dinner.

Presenters

David J. Barrett, President & CEO, Hearst Television Inc. will present the First Amendment Award to Marcellus Alexander and the NABEF.

Steve Capus, President, NBC News will present the Leonard Zeidenberg Award to Brian Williams, Anchor and Managing editor, NBC Nightly News.

Walter Isaacson, President and CEO, Aspen Institute will present the First Amendment Leadership Award to David Westin, President, ABC News.

Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent and Host, "Andrea Mitchell Reports" will present the First Amendment Award to Barbara Cochran, RTDNA President Emeritus.

Bob Schieffer, Chief Washington Correspondent, CBS News will present the First Amendment Service Award to Harvey Nagler, Vice President, CBS Radio News.

First Amendment Leadership Award

RTDNF presents this award annually to a business or government leader who has made a significant contribution to the protection of the First Amendment and freedom of the press.

• 1992 Allen Neuharth
• 1993 Frank Stanton
• 1994 James Quello
• 1995 Tom Johnson
• 1996 Howard Stringer
• 1997 Robert L. Johnson
• 1998 Roone Arledge
• 1999 Bob Wright
• 2000 R. E. "Ted" Turner
• 2001 Don Hewitt
• 2002 Katharine Graham
• 2003 Floyd Abrams
• 2004 Charles Grassley and Patrick Leahy
• 2005 Jim Keelor
• 2006 Hurricane Katrina Station Groups:
  Belo Corp. (WWL-TV)
  Clear Channel Broadcasting (WBUV-FM, WKNN-FM, WMJY-FM,WQYZ-FM, KHEV-FM, WNOE-FM, WODT-AM, WQUE-FM and WYLD-AM/FM)
  Emmis Communications (WVUE-TV)
  Entercom Communications (WWL-AM)
  Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. (WDSU-TV)
  Liberty Corporation (WLOX-TV) and Tribune Broadcasting (WGNO-TV)
• 2007 Roger Ailes
• 2008 Tom Curley
• 2009 Google, Inc.
• 2010 David Westin

Leonard Zeidenberg First Amendment Award

RTDNF presents this award annually to a radio or television journalist or news executive who has made a major contribution to the protection of First Amendment freedoms. It is named for the late Broadcasting & Cable senior correspondent, Leonard Zeidenberg.

• 1992 James Snyder
• 1993 John Chancellor
• 1994 David Brinkley
• 1995 Walter Cronkite
• 1996 Carole Simpson
• 1997 Jane Pauley
• 1998 Mike Wallace
• 1999 Christiane Amanpour
• 2000 Diane Sawyer
• 2001 Jim Lehrer
• 2002 Sam Donaldson
• 2003 Judy Woodruff
• 2004 Andrea Mitchell
• 2005 Ed Bradley
• 2006 Gwen Ifill
• 2007 Bob Woodruff and Kimberly Dozier
• 2008 Bob Schieffer
• 2009 Cokie Roberts
• 2010 Brian Williams

First Amendment Service Award

This award honors professionals in local or network news who work in an off-air, management, largely behind-the-scenes capacity.

• 1998 Betty Cole Dukert
• 1999 Marty Haag
• 2000 Lee Giles
• 2001 Gary Wordlaw
• 2002 Fred Young
• 2003 Susan Zirinsky
• 2004 Walter Ulloa
• 2005 Wendy Walker Whitworth
• 2006 William Wheatley
• 2007 Philip Balboni
• 2008 Paula Madison
• 2009 Susan Grant
• 2010 Harvey Nagler
  
  

First Amendment Award

• 2008 Richard Wiley
• 2009 John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
• 2010 Barbara Cochran & Marcellus Alexander