Peter Jennings to Receive WSU Murrow Award

PULLMAN, Wash. — Peter Jennings, anchor and senior editor of ABC’s “World News Tonight,” will visit Washington State University’s Pullman campus April 14, 2004 to accept the Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement in Broadcasting.

“There are strong similarities between the commitment and dedication of Edward R. Murrow and Peter Jennings,” said Alexis Tan, director of the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication at WSU. “Our faculty members believe the journalistic standards Peter Jennings has exhibited throughout his career are the very qualities we try to instill in our students and the attributes we celebrate with the Murrow Award.”

Edward R. Murrow, a 1930 graduate of Washington State College (now Washington State University), is regarded as broadcasting’s most illustrious journalist. Many journalists say his reporting for CBS during World War II established the standards to which broadcast professionals still aspire.

“This university, through the Edward R. Murrow Symposium and numerous other programs and events, has a reputation for celebrating excellence,” said V. Lane Rawlins, president of WSU.  “Most people know by now that our university motto is ‘World Class. Face to Face.’ What could possibly be a better example of that than our students learning from Peter Jennings?”

Jennings joined ABC News in 1964 and has covered some of the biggest national and international stories, including reports from every European nation formerly behind the Iron Curtain. He served as chief foreign correspondent for ABC News and as the foreign desk anchor for “World News Tonight.” He was the network’s bureau chief in Beirut, Lebanon, for seven years. Jennings was named anchor and senior editor of “World News Tonightin 1983.

The Edward R. Murrow Symposium began more than 30 years ago as a panel discussion and lecture series that attracted well-known communications professionals. In the 1990s, the faculty of the Murrow School began to recognize the achievements of top communication leaders by honoring them with awards such as the Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement in Broadcasting; Lifetime Achievement in Journalism; International and Intercultural Communication; and Distinguished Achievement in Broadcasting. These awards have been presented to a select few whose careers have demonstrated the standard of excellence set by Murrow.

Previous award winners include Daniel Pearl (2003), Distinguished Achievement in Journalism; Sir Howard Stringer (2002), International and Intercultural Communication; Daniel Schorr (2002), Lifetime Achievement in Broadcasting; Christiane Amanpour (2002), Distinguished Achievement in Broadcasting; Bernard Shaw (2001), Lifetime Achievement in Broadcasting; Ted Turner (2000), Lifetime Achievement in Broadcasting; Keith Jackson (1999), Lifetime Achievement in Broadcasting; Al Neuharth (1999), Lifetime Achievement in Journalism; Walter Cronkite (1998), Lifetime Achievement in Broadcasting; Frank Blethen (1998), Lifetime Achievement in Journalism; and Sam Donaldson (1997), Lifetime Achievement in Broadcasting.

Jennings will accept the Murrow Award at a 7:30 p.m. presentation April 14 at the Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum. The event is free and open to the public. Prior to the public award presentation will be a celebration of academic excellence at a scholarship award dinner. The symposium also includes a Career Day that gives students and prospective students a chance to connect with industry professionals.

For more information on the symposium, visit www.wsu.edu/murrow.

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