The Kalb Report Honoured with the 2023 New York Festivals Lifetime Achievement Award

New York Festivals Television & Film Awards/Radio Awards will honour The Kalb Report, the iconic public broadcasting series hosted by eminent journalist Marvin Kalb, with its 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award at the Storytellers Gala on April 18th.

The New York Festivals Lifetime Achievement Award recognises prominent industry leaders, innovators, and driving forces in the broadcast industry whose accomplishments have advanced their field and made a lasting impression on the industry.

The Kalb Report is the longest-running project in National Press Club history with 103 programmes over 28 years. 

During its nearly three decade run, the series has provided a forum for prominent newsmakers and journalists to discuss the news media’s impact on American democracy. The guest list included Supreme Court justices, Civil Rights icons, network news anchors, best-selling authors, members of Congress, and influential leaders from across the media landscape. 

The Kalb Report was created in 1994 when Kalb was on a one-year sabbatical from Harvard University to return to Washington to teach at George Washington University (GW). Kalb was the last correspondent personally hired by Edward R. Murrow, and his career had taken him around the world as the CBS News chief diplomatic correspondent. Prior to hosting the Kalb Report, Marvin Kalb’s career spanned three decades of award-winning reporting and commentary for CBS and NBC, including a turn as moderator of Meet the Press. He served 25 years as founding director and senior fellow of the Joan Shorenstein Centre on the press, politics and public policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He also is the Edward R. Murrow professor (Emeritus) at Harvard and a prolific author, having recently completed his 17th book, “Assignment Russia: Becoming a Foreign Correspondent in the Crucible of the Cold War.” (Brookings Institution Press, 2021).

At GW, Kalb found a perfect partner in former CBS Radio Network general manager Michael Freedman, who served as executive producer of The Kalb Report series for its entire 28-year run and went on to become president of the National Press Club in 2020.

From the beginning, Kalb said the purpose of the series was to bring top journalists and newsmakers to the National Press Club in Washington, DC, for an hour-long discussion of the state of journalism and politics that would attract students as well as club members. By the end of the first program, Kalb said he could see that the defining theme for the series was the news media’s impact on American democracy.

“Over nearly three decades, The Kalb Report has followed the sometimes-tortuous course of American journalism as it has endured one of the most radical changes in history,” said Michael, in summing up the show’s impact. “Time and again, Marvin and his guests have highlighted the essential work of a free and non-partial news media to democracy, and by working with students during the entire run, we hope we have passed that legacy on to the next generation.”

Guests over the years have included the U.S. Supreme Court justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (together); Walter Cronkite; Diane Sawyer; Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (together); Ken Burns; Katie Couric; Christiane Amanpour; Civil Rights icons John Lewis, Julian Bond and Andrew Young (together); Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins; Hillary Clinton; Rupert Murdoch; Judy Woodruff; Cokie Roberts; Bob Costas; major league baseball commissioner Rob Manfred; and Nobel Prize recipient Elie Wiesel.

The Kalb Report series was most recently honoured with a 2018 Gold World Medal in the New York Festivals Radio Awards competition. The series also received Gold World Medals in 2015 and 2012, when it was presented with the overall Grand Award.

For nearly two decades the series has been underwritten by ethics and excellence in Journalism Foundation, a division of Oklahoma-based Inasmuch Foundation. Maryland Public Television serves as the presenting station for The Kalb Report series, which is distributed nationally by American Public Television.

The Kalb Report public broadcasting series ends this spring as moderator Marvin Kalb and his long-time friend and fellow network news correspondent Ted Koppel look back, around, and ahead at the challenges for both journalism and our democracy in The Kalb Report: Good Night and Good Luck.

In summing up the series, Michael said, “We strive to have the courage of our convictions in the selection of topics, guests, and questions and we have sought to make a positive difference in the lives of current and aspiring journalists, as well as our national audiences of listeners and viewers.” He cited as one example a college student who approached Kalb after a programme and said, “I came in thinking I wanted to go into journalism. I left knowing I must go into journalism.”

Trophy winning entries will be celebrated at the NYF Storytellers Gala taking place on April 18th at the Centennial NAB Show in Las Vegas. This is the 13th year of New York Festivals strategic partnership with NAB.

View the 2022 TV & Film Awards winner’s showcase visit: winners and to view the 2022 Radio Awards winners visit: winners.