Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media
The Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media is presented by the Freedom Forum in Washington, D.C., and the University of South Dakota. Since the first award, presented in 1989 to Walter Cronkite, 33 leaders in media have been selected for the honor.
The award is named for USA TODAY and Freedom Forum founder Al Neuharth, a South Dakota native and 1950 graduate of USD.
Recipients
1989
Walter Cronkite
CBS News
1990
Carl T. Rowan
Commentator and Author
1991
Helen Thomas
United Press International
1992
Tom Brokaw
NBC News
1993
Larry King
CNN
1994
Charles Kuralt
CBS News
1995
Albert R. Hunt
The Wall Street Journal
Judy C. Woodruff
CNN
1996
Robert MacNeil
PBS
1997
Cokie Roberts
ABC News
1998
Tim Russert
NBC News
Louis D. Boccardi
The Associated Press
1999
John Seigenthaler
The Tennessean, Nashville
2000
No award
2001
Jim Lehrer
PBS
2002
Tom Curley
USA TODAY
2003
No award
2004
Don Hewitt
CBS News
2005
Garrison Keillor
Minnesota Public Radio
2006
Bob Schieffer
CBS News
2007
John Quinn
USA TODAY
Ken Paulson
USA TODAY
2008
Charles Overby
Newseum
2009
Katie Couric
CBS News
2010
Cathie Black
Hearst Magazines
Frank Vega
San Francisco Chronicle
2011
Brian Lamb
C-SPAN
2012
Marilyn Hagerty
Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald
2013
Gwen Ifill
PBS
2014
Peter Prichard
USA TODAY
Newseum
2015
John M. Seigenthaler
Al Jazeera America
2016
Chris Berman
ESPN
2017
Martin Baron
The Washington Post
2018
Lesley Visser
Veteran Sports Broadcaster
2019
Carol Guzy
Pulitzer Prize–winning photographer
2020
No award
2021
Isabel Wilkerson
Journalist and author
2022
Alberto Ibargüen
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
2023
Maria Hinojosa
Futuro Media Group
2024
Sesame Workshop
Accepted by Sherrie Westin, CEO