News Releases

Barbara Cochran to Receive 2008 Peter Hackes Award from RTNDA-DC Chapter

WASHINGTON -- Barbara Cochran, president of the Radio-Television News Directors Association, has been named the 2008 winner of the Peter Hackes award for distinguished service by the Washington, D.C. chapter of RTNDA.  Cochran will be honored at a luncheon on January 29 at The George Washington University.

The Hackes award was created to honor the journalism career and contributions to journalism of the late NBC News correspondent Peter Hackes.  Cochran is the 15th recipient of the yearly award.

Neal Schiff, president of RTNDA-DC, said Cochran was selected for the award because she is a true professional who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to advance the broadcast news industry in our community. Schiff said, “We are privileged and delighted to add her to the distinguished roster of previous awardees.”

Cochran, who will retire from RTNDA in June, said, “I’m honored to receive an award that was named for an outstanding journalist like Peter Hackes and that has gone to so many distinguished professionals whom I’ve had the good fortune to know. The Washington chapter of RTNDA upholds excellence and independence in journalism in the Nation’s Capital and it is a high honor to be recognized by this group.”

During her tenure as RTNDA president, Cochran has made defending the First Amendment rights of electronic journalists a top priority. She also emphasized high standards of ethics and excellence and promoting professional development.

Cochran led RTNDA through the successful conclusion of the organization’s 20-year battle to abolish the last vestiges of the Federal Communications Commission’s Fairness Doctrine. Responding to requests from RTNDA and others, the Supreme Court for the first time allowed the news media immediate access to the audio recording of the arguments in the 2000 presidential election dispute. RTNDA was part of a coalition that won the most sweeping reform of the Freedom of Information Act in 40 years.

Previous Hackes Award winners include Kathleen Matthews, executive vice president at Marriott International and longtime anchor at WJLA-TV; Jim Bohannon, national radio talk show host; Jim Farley, WTOP Radio/Bonneville Broadcasting executive; Carole Simpson, ABC News Correspondent; Ed Bliss, CBS Writer/Producer and professor emeritus at American University; and Lou Prato, RTNDA Treasurer, television news executive and educator.

Cochran joined RTNDA in 1997 from CBS News, where she was Washington bureau chief, the first woman to hold that position for a television network. Earlier in her career she was executive producer of Meet the Press, vice president for news at National Public Radio and managing editor of the Washington Star.

Cochran’s other honors include the Media Institute’s Freedom of Speech Award, the American Women in Radio and Television Award for Allied Services, the University of Georgia’s DiGamma Kappa Society Distinguished Achievement Award in Broadcasting and the Matrix Foundation’s Edith Wortman First Amendment Award. Cochran is married to John Cochran, senior correspondent for ABC News.

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