Awards & Accolades

As we mentioned, NBC "Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams was in Arizona this week to receive the 2009 Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.

This is the first time the award has been given since Cronkite's passing. "The honor you give me here today is the highest of my career," Williams said. "I get to have my name mentioned alongside the best there ever was -- the man I wanted to be."

"I am convinced that had he come along today, I don't think he would have cracked through. I think there's too much noise, too much to cut through for a modest man from Missouri," he told the crowd of nearly 1,200. "But God and history combined to give him to us right when we needed him."

During the ceremony, both Bruce Springsteen and Jon Stewart provided congratulatory videos.

Williams has had some positive things to say about Stewart in return this week. In an article for Newsweek's "New Thought Leaders" -- Stewart was number two -- Williams wrote that Stewart "has gone from optional to indispensable." "There's been another step added to the end of the process," he wrote of the news arc, "Being held to account for our faults by a comedy show with a sharp eye and a sharp tongue. How did we live without it?"

NBC's Brian Williams hosts this year's Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Heroes Gala tonight at Gotham Hall in New York. Iraq veteran and "All My Children" actor J.R. Martinez will be honored with the 2009 Veterans Leadership Award and MTV Networks President Van Toffler receives the Civilian Service Award. IAVA is the country's first and largest nonprofit, nonpartisan group for Iraq and Afghanistan vets.

CBS's Steve Kroft has been named the 2010 Paul White Award winner by The Radio Television Digital News Association (formerly The Radio and Television News Directors Association). Kroft will receive the award April 12 in Las Vegas, during the RTDNA annual convention.

"Steve Kroft's practice of our craft stands as a benchmark providing substance, depth, public service and thoughtful style," said Ed Esposito, chairman of the award committee, in a press release.

Previous Paul White Award winners include Bob Schieffer, Ted Koppel, Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, Christiane Amanpour, Peter Jennings, and Edward R. Murrow.

• Earlier: Steve Kroft, Matt Lauer Honored

• More: CBS News and Sports president Sean McManus' email to staff, after the jump...

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The NATAS announced the nominees for the 7th Business and Financial Reporting Emmy Awards today.

CBS received the most nominations, with 15. PBS was next with four, followed by CNBC and BBC America with three each.

• Eight of CBS's 15 nods were nominations for segments on "60 Minutes." Four others were for "Evening News with Katie Couric."
• Two of CNBC's documentaries were nominated for awards as well as "Boom, Bust, Blame: The Inside Story of America's Economic Crisis" on CNBC.com.
• Two of Elisabeth Leamy's reports for ABC's "Good Morning America" were nominated for an investigative reporting Emmy.
• "BBC World News America" was nominated for three awards, including two for "interpretation or analysis."

The awards will be presented at a luncheon on December 7th. You can see the full list, along with the Promotion Announcement nominations, here.

The ballroom at New York's Grand Hyatt was packed last night with local and national tvnewsers celebrating the best in the business as recognized by the RTNDA - Radio and TV News Directors Association.

At the start of the event, Stacey Woelfel, the chairman of the organization, announced this would be the final RTNDA Murrow Awards dinner, until he clarified saying that as of Monday the organization is known as the RTDNA -- the Radio, Television, Digital News Association.

Presenters included CBS' Russ Mitchell, NBC's Natalie Morales and Hoda Kotb, CNN's John Roberts and ABC's Brian Ross. In all, 51 news organizations were recognized for excellence in TV, Radio and Digital journalism.

CBS Evening News EP Rick Kaplan accepted the Murrow award for Best Network Newscast for the second year in a row. NBC News president Steve Capus accepted for Overall Excellence. And NBC's Richard Engel accepted an award for his continuing coverage of the war in Afghanistan - specifically for his Tip of the Spear reports. Engel, who last week made headlines for declaring, "it's probably time to start leaving the country," kept his comments brief last night thanking his NBC News colleagues. Engel is now headed back to Kabul.

One of the highlights of the evening came when "60 Minutes" producers Tom Anderson and Jenny Dubin accepted their award.

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AskMen has released their list of the 49 most influential men of 2009. Fox News' Shepard Smith was the only newser on the list, appearing at the #31 spot (right between Tiger Woods and Hugh Jackman). In addition to pointing toward Smith's high ratings and big salary, AskMen also noted his memorable coverage:

He anchored FOX's Presidential Election Night coverage last November, and more recently, kept viewers up-to-date on the moment-by-moment developments immediately following news of Michael Jackson's death. Perhaps the most memorable Shepard Smith moment of the year came on April 22 when, during a passionate discussion on the use of torture on Freedom Watch, an internet-only program, the FOX anchor let loose with a few choice words, including the forbidden "F" word.

Related: Who's number one? The very fictional Don Draper from AMC's "Mad Men." Hot off the blogs, you can catch TVNewser delivering the "Mad Men" recap from Sunday's episode on AgencySpy's "The Week in Advertising."

The NewsHour's Judy Woodruff has been honored by the alumni association at her alma mater, Duke University, with its Distinguished Alumni Award. The award was presented Thursday at Founders' Day ceremonies in Durham, North Carolina.

The honor is given to alumni "who have made significant contributions in their own fields, in service to the university, or for the betterment of humanity," according to Duke Magazine. Woodruff, class of '68, was selected from nominations made by Duke alumni, faculty members, trustees, administrators, and students.

Woodruff served on Duke's board of trustees from 1985 to 1997.

• CBS's Steve Kroft has been named a Trumpeter Award winner by the National Consumers League. The award will be bestowed tonight in Washington, D.C. to Kroft and to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. The Trumpeter Award is the League's "highest honor, given to leaders who are not afraid to speak out for social justice and for the rights of consumers," according to a NCL press release.

• NBC's Matt Lauer will receive the Lew Klein Excellence in the Media Award at an October 20 luncheon in Philadelphia. Proceeds from the event benefit the Lew Klein Excellence in the Media Fund for professorships and scholarships at Temple University's School of Communications and Theater.

The Radio-Television News Directors Association has announced the presenter list for this year's awards:

• Hoda Kotb, NBC News
• Russ Mitchell, CBS News
• Natalie Morales, NBC News
• John Roberts, CNN
• Brian Ross, ABC News

The awards dinner honoring recipients of the Edward R. Murrow and UNITY Awards will take place on October 12.

Marc Bryan-Brown Photography

A tribute to Walters came first from Katie Couric. Then ABC News President David Westin presented the award. "Barbara Walters is a true legend in television news," Westin said. "Even more special, she keeps on adding to that legend each and every day. It is an honor to present the Lifetime Achievement award to Barbara Walters, but it is even more of a pleasure to give it to such a good friend."

Marc Bryan-Brown Photography

The biggest network winner was PBS, which was awarded six Emmys. CBS News won five. In a note to the staff this morning, CBS News and Sports president Sean McManus wrote, "The diversity of subject matter for which CBS News won awards is indicative of our strength and leadership in every area of journalism."

"NBC Nightly News" had a big night, picking up two awards for their Afghanistan coverage and one for breaking coverage of the financial collapse last September. In an internal email, EP Bob Epstein congratulated the staff on their hard work writing, "This is a terrific night for everyone at Nightly and NBC News."

Other notable winners:

• "CBS Evening News" won an investigative journalism award.
• NBC News won for election night coverage.
• "60 Minutes" won three newsmagazine Emmys.
• "ABC News Primetime" and "Nightline" each won a newsmagazine award.
• "CBS News Sunday Morning" won a feature story Emmy.

You can see the full list of winners here.

Network totals:

ABC: 2 / CBS: 5 / CNN: 1 / NBC: 5 / PBS: 6