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