Dan Rather Honored with 2012 Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement, Address at WSU
September 27 • 7:00 p.m. • Beasley Coliseum • Free
WSU named veteran journalist Dan Rather distinguished recipient of the 2012 Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement. Rather accepted the honor and delivered a free, public address during the Thirty-Eighth Edward R. Murrow Symposium at WSU Pullman.
Advancing the Murrow legacy
Rather's career in news spans 60 years of world history. His earliest beat was the American South where he reported from the frequently violent front lines of the civil rights movement. In 1963, he broke the news of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and, in 2001, he anchored four days of live CBS News coverage of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, helping guide his country through the trauma.
"Dan Rather has literally walked in the footsteps of Edward R. Murrow, in the field and at the anchor desk. He embodies the strength and courage that Murrow represented," said Lawrence Pintak, founding dean of The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at WSU, who worked for Rather as a CBS News correspondent.
From his start with the Associated Press in Huntsville, Texas, in 1950, Rather became inextricably linked with the "eye" of CBS. He was anchor of CBS Evening News from March 1981 to March 2005, the longest such tenure in broadcast history. He has covered every major U.S. military conflict since the Korean War, every U.S. president since Eisenhower, and virtually every other major figure who has appeared on the world stage in the past 30 years. His two exclusive interviews with Saddam Hussein in 1990 and 2003 were news-making events in themselves. As a correspondent for 60 Minutes II, Rather broke arguably the biggest story of 2004: prisoner abuse at Iraq's infamous Abu Ghraib prison.
A leader in his field
On leaving CBS, Rather founded the company News and Guts and, in 2006, became anchor and managing editor of Dan Rather Reports, which specializes in investigative journalism and international reporting. Last fall, the AXS.TV program (formerly with HDNet) was awarded an Emmy for investigative business reporting.
"Like Murrow, Dan has chronicled some of the most extraordinary events of his time. And just as Murrow transitioned from radio to become a pioneer of television journalism, Rather has embraced the new digital era," Pintak said.
Murrow awards honor top communicators
Rather joined a prestigious list of Edward R. Murrow Award recipients, including Ted Koppel, Deborah Amos, Judy Woodruff, Bob Schieffer, Helen Thomas, Don Hewitt, David Fanning, Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Daniel Schorr, Christiane Amanpour, Walter Cronkite, Sam Donaldson, Bernard Shaw, Keith Jackson, Ted Turner, and Al Neuharth.
The 2012 award celebration included a special tribute to Professor of Broadcasting Glenn A. Johnson, who joined the WSU faculty in 1979. In his 34th year of teaching excellence, Professor Johnson recently announced plans fall for a phased retirement that will enable him to continue putting his students first.
Free career-development events for communicators in spring 2012
Murrow Symposium events this fall were preceded by three days of seminars, panel discussions, and career-focused workshops for professionals and students in the Communicators Summit, April 3-5, also at WSU-Pullman.
Presented by the Murrow College of Communication and WSU, the Edward R. Murrow Symposium recognizes exceptional achievement in communication as it celebrates scholarship and connects students to industry leaders.
You can help support the Symposium
Through The Campaign for Washington State University: Because the World Needs Big Ideas, the Murrow College of Communication aims to build upon its legacy of ethics, responsibility, and professionalism to meet growing international demand for highly skilled and responsible communicators. You can support WSU’s Murrow College of Communication by giving online or by contacting Carol Kowalski at 206-448-1332or ckowalski@wsu.edu.
Recent Murrow Awards
2011
Ted Koppel
Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement in Broadcast Journalism
About Ted Koppel
2010
Deborah Amos
Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement/Radio
Judy Woodruff
Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement/Television
ProPublica
Edward R. Murrow Award for Media Entrepreneurship
About the 2010 award recipients
2009
Helen Thomas
Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism
Bob Schieffer
Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement in Broadcast Journalism
Previous years