PHOENIX - NBC anchor Lester Holt, from “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt,” will be the 2019 recipient of the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism, Arizona State University officials announced.
Holt will be the 36th recipient of the award given to a prominent journalist annually in honor of former news anchor Walter Cronkite and namesake of ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
“Lester Holt is a fantastic role model for our students and all journalists for his insightful, caring, fact-based journalism and stories that focus on the impact of major news events on everyday Americans,” Cronkite Dean Christopher Callahan said in a release. “He embodies the cherished news values of accuracy, honesty, fairness and objectivity championed by Walter throughout his long career.”
Holt has anchored the flagship NBC Nightly News broadcast since 2015, following eight years as anchor of the newscast’s weekend edition and 12 years as co-anchor of “Weekend TODAY.” Holt has also been the principal anchor of NBC's "Dateline" since 2011 and he also hosts special reports around the world and served as a moderator for the first 2020 Democratic debate.
Holt has received various Emmy Awards, a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and the Fred Friendly First Amendment Award. In 2016, he was named Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists.
The ceremony will be held in Phoenix on Cronkite's birthday, Nov. 4.