The anchor of NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt will be honored for a lifetime of achievement and service to the profession of electronic journalism at the Excellence in Journalism 2017 conference on Sept. 8.
NBC’s Holt Is RTDNA’s Paul White Winner
The Radio Television Digital News Association today announced the winner of the 2017 Paul White Award, which recognizes a lifetime of achievement and service to the profession of electronic journalism: Lester Holt of NBC News.
“At a time when journalism has faced unprecedented challenges, Lester Holt remains a trusted and steady voice,” said Vincent Duffy, chairman of RTDNA. “We’re proud to recognize his work, his decades of dedication to our profession and his commitment to seeking and speaking the truth.”
The award will be presented on Friday, Sept. 8, at 4:30 p.m. PT at the Excellence in Journalism 2017 conference, at the Anaheim (Calif.) Marriott. The ceremony will be followed by a reception.
Holt anchors the NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, the network’s flagship broadcast and America’s most-watched evening newscast. Holt was named to the role in June 2015 after eight years as anchor of NBC Nightly News weekend editions and 12 years as co-anchor of Weekend Today. In addition, Holt has served as principal anchor of Dateline NBC since September 2011.
Holt joined NBC News in 2000 and has a broad background in the field, reporting and anchoring from breaking news events across the world. In May 2017, he anchored Nightly News from Jerusalem during President Trump’s first international trip and reported from Manchester following the terrorist attack at a concert. In April 2017, he interviewed a senior North Korean defector and had rare access to U.S. military operations in South Korea.
He has reported from Brussels and Paris on the terrorist attacks that took place across Europe in 2015 and 2016. Previously, Holt anchored from South Africa during the Nelson Mandela memorial service; reported from the streets of Cairo on the latest political and civil unrest in Egypt during the Arab Spring; covered the earthquake and nuclear crisis in Japan; and reported on the immediate aftermath and response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti.
Before becoming co-anchor of Weekend Today, Holt anchored Lester Holt Live, a daily news show on MSNBC in which he covered breaking news and provided news updates and analysis.
Holt has also been the lead anchor for daytime news and breaking news coverage on MSNBC. He came to MSNBC from NBC-owned WBBM Chicago, where he spent 14 years.
He has earned the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, the Daytime Emmy Award and received the Leonard Zeidenberg First Amendment Award from the Radio Television Digital News Foundation in 2014.
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Comments (8)
Cheryl Thorne says:
June 22, 2017 at 11:36 am
Of course .. unbelievable .. mediocrity personified . Get in the club and the club takes care of you !!!
alicia farmer says:
June 22, 2017 at 12:19 pm
Are you referring to the highly professional and deserving Lester Holt? What club would that be?
Joe Jaime says:
June 22, 2017 at 1:02 pm
I have always wondered why anchors (teleprompter readers ) get these awards when they should actually go the the reporters who are in the field generating the content for the ( readers ). I like his anchor work but on what basis does he get this award?
John Bagwell says:
June 22, 2017 at 1:51 pm
Good point and while I am all for recognizing those who do a lot of the work behind the scenes ( hopefully Lester shares this award with them), I am sure he does much more than just show up, read the teleprompter, and go home.
alicia farmer says:
June 22, 2017 at 2:09 pm
Reality check: Lester Holt has spent the majority of his career in the field – reporting. Since being named anchor he has frequently been in the field – reporting. Haters gotta’ hate.
Khristian Lee says:
June 22, 2017 at 3:23 pm
Haters gonna hate indeed.
Joe Jaime says:
June 22, 2017 at 6:37 pm
I will clarify my post and say: in Lester’s case he seems to deserve this award for both his work in the field and his on air at the anchor desk. My point being: the producers, reporters, and EP’s deserve to be recognized for the contribution they make in the newsroom but seldom get any recognition. Most the time awards in our industry go to the most visible people.
Sean Smith says:
June 22, 2017 at 9:58 pm
C’mon guys… Lester Holt is getting this (and many other awards), not because there is nobody better (there is). He’s getting it because he just happened to interview Trump, when Trump admitted he wanted to fire Comey because Comey wouldn’t back off the Russia investigation. That one, single soundbite will live on and be played on a bi-weekly basis until Trump gets kicked out of office because of the Russia scandal (which there is definitely something to)… And Lester Holt’s cutaway will always be in the soundbite. Scott Pelley could have been the interviewer…. David Muir could have been the interviewer…. it just happened to be Lester Holt.