Press release
Andrea Mitchell of NBC News & MSNBC Awarded Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism
Andrea Mitchell of NBC News and MSNBC will receive the Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism from the National Press Foundation. The award will be presented at NPF’s 28th annual awards dinner, March 1, 2011, in Washington.
“Andrea Mitchell is a great reporter and commentator who regularly breaks important Washington and national stories,” the judges said. “She understands the complexity of political and legislative life and conveys it simply and clearly. The public benefits. She has sources everywhere, and she has added an important interview show to her work load.”
The National Press Foundation, a 501-c-3, was established as a non-profit organization in 1976 dedicated to the betterment of journalists through its educational and awards programs. The award is named in honor of Sol Taishoff, the founder and editor of Broadcasting magazine and a passionate supporter of free-press issues for broadcasters.
Andrea Mitchell, is NBC News’ Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, and is also the host of MSNBC’S “Andrea Mitchell Reports.” Mitchell’s extensive career as a journalist has taken her all over the world, and includes a number of exclusive interviews with leaders such as Fidel Castro, Hillary Clinton and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to name a few. She has been recognized numerous times for her impressive work, receiving awards such as the prestigious Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism from the John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Radio-Television News Directors Association’s Leonard Zeidenberg Award for her contribution to the protection of First Amendment Freedoms.
She has asked that the University of Pennsylvania receive the $5,000 honorarium associated with the award.
The judges for the Taishoff award this year were Gerald Seib, chairman of NPF who is assistant managing editor and executive Washington editor of The Wall Street Journal; John Harris, editor of Politico; Robin V. Sproul, Washington bureau chief for ABC News; Kathleen Graham, executive director of the Radio Television Digital News Foundation; Gloria Story Dittus, Story Partners; and Robert P. Taishoff, an attorney and philanthropist. Harris and Dittus are members of the NPF board; Sproul is a former NPF chairman.
Previous winners of the Sol Taishoff Award include the show, 60 MINUTES, Charles Gibson, Gordon Peterson, Gwen Ifill, Charles Osgood and Tim Russert.
Other awards to be presented at the March 1 dinner include the Ben Bradlee Editor of the Year Award, the W.M. Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism Award and the Dirksen Award for Coverage of Congress, among others.
For information about the awards dinner, contact Kerry Buker, 202-663-7282, or email at Kerry@nationalpress.org. For information about the National Press Foundation or its programs, contact Bob Meyers, president, bob@nationalpress.org.
