Katie Couric has been named the 2009 recipient of the Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media.

The award is named for the founder of USA Today and the Freedom Forum. It will be presented on October 8 at the University of South Dakota, Neuharth’s alma mater. Couric is scheduled to speak at the event.

Past Neuharth award recipients include Couric’s CBS colleague Bob Schieffer (2006) and the late CBS newsmen Don Hewitt (2004) and Walter Cronkite (1989). Among the other previous winners: Tom Brokaw (1992), Larry King (1993), and Judy Woodruff (1995).