Cronkite School Honoring Judy Woodruff, Gwen Ifill at Cronkite Award Luncheon

Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication is presenting Judy Woodruff and the late Gwen Ifill, the award-winning co-anchors and managing editors of the “PBS NewsHour,” with the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism Thursday, Oct. 19.

Woodruff will receive the 34th Cronkite Award at a special luncheon celebration at the Sheraton Grand Phoenix hotel in downtown Phoenix. The annual Cronkite Award Luncheon has become one of the most anticipated events in the Valley, attracting more than 1,000 industry leaders from the worlds of media, politics, business and education each year.

Who: Judy Woodruff, anchor and managing editor of the “PBS NewsHour”

What: 34th annual Cronkite Award Luncheon

When: Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Where: Sheraton Grand Phoenix, 340 N. Third St., Phoenix, AZ 85004

Photographers and videographers will have the opportunity to approach the stage to shoot close-ups of the award presentation at a designated time during the luncheon.

Media space is limited; contact Cronkite School Communications Manager Joe Giordano at joe.giordano@asu.edu to reserve a space.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Meenah Rincon, Media Relations Officer
Phone: (480) 727-3116
Email: herminia.rincon@asu.edu

About Judy Woodruff
Judy Woodruff is the award-winning anchor and managing editor of the “PBS NewsHour.” For more than four decades, she has covered politics and major news stories at CNN, NBC and PBS.

At the “PBS NewsHour,” Woodruff leads a newscast that millions of Americans and citizens of the world turn to for solid, reliable reporting that has made it one of the most trusted news programs on television. She was co-anchor and co-managing editor at the “PBS NewsHour” with the late Gwen Ifi ll from 2013-2016.

Woodruff served as the chief Washington correspondent for “The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour” from 1983-1993. She also anchored PBS’ award-winning weekly documentary series “Frontline with Judy Woodruff” from 1984-1990.

Before coming to PBS, Woodruff was anchor and senior correspondent at CNN, where she anchored the political news program “Inside Politics” for 12 years. She also was the White House correspondent for NBC News from 1977-1982. She shared her experiences in the 1982 book “This is Judy Woodruff at the White House.”

About Gwen Ifill (1955-2016)
Gwen Ifill was the award-winning co-anchor and co-managing editor of the “PBS News-Hour” with Judy Woodruff and the moderator and managing editor of “Washington Week,” the longest-running prime-time news and public affairs program on television.

Ifill was a veteran political reporter in Washington, covering eight presidential elections and moderating the vice presidential debates in 2004 and 2008. For her coverage of the 2008 presidential election on “Washington Week,” she was the recipient of a prestigious George Foster Peabody Award.

Ifill joined both “Washington Week” and “PBS NewsHour” in 1999, interviewing newsmakers and reporting on issues ranging from foreign affairs to politics. She was known for her ability to ask tough questions and hold people in power accountable.

She was the author of the 2009 book “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama,” which shed light on the impact of Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential victory and the emerging young African-American politicians of that time. Ifill died in November 2016.

About the Cronkite Award Luncheon
The Cronkite Award Luncheon is the Cronkite School’s signature fundraising event, providing crucial support for the school’s professional programs that train the next generation of journalism and media leaders.

Other Cronkite Award recipients have included TV news anchors Scott Pelley, Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts; newspaper journalists Ben Bradlee, Helen Thomas and Bob Woodward; and media executives Katharine Graham, Al Neuharth and Bill Paley. Cronkite personally presented the award during its first quarter-century. The CBS News anchor died in 2009.

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication was named in Cronkite’s honor in 1984.

 About ASU
Arizona State University has developed a new model for the American Research University, creating an institution that is committed to access, excellence and impact. ASU measures itself by those it includes, not by those it excludes. As the prototype for a New American University, ASU pursues research that contributes to the public good, and ASU assumes major responsibility for the economic, social and cultural vitality of the communities that surround it.

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