Kalb Report wins Gold Medal in international competition

For the third time, The Kalb Report won the Gold World Medal in the 2018 New York Festivals International Radio Awards as the “Best Talk/Interview Special.”

The winning program was “The Kalb Report: Guardians of the Fourth Estate” that featured moderator Marvin Kalb questioning New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet and Washington Post Executive Editor Marty Baron.

The program bested entries from networks and local stations across the U.S. and around the world.

Produced at the National Press Club last October, the program was honored at a June 18 gala in Manhattan. The Kalb Report previously won Gold World Medals in 2012 and 2015. For radio, the Kalb Report is carried by Sirius XM Satellite Radio nationwide and Federal News Radio in Washington.

Michael Freedman, the program’s executive producer and Club treasurer, accepted the award on behalf of the partnership that produces it, led by the National Press Club’s Journalism Institute.

“Rarely have the roles, responsibilities and indeed, the basic integrity of the American press been under such scrutiny as now,” Freedman told the gathering in explaining the premise of this program. “Facing allegations ranging from blatant bias to reporting fake news, public trust and even public understanding of journalism appears in doubt.”

Freedman noted a quote in the program from Baquet: “Truth may be elusive, but there is such a thing as truth. If you tell the truth, if you are accurate, if you’re aggressive, and you’re fair, and you hold onto your principles, in the end, that’s the only way you can cover this president.”

And he quoted Baron as saying, “We’re not at war, we’re at work.”

For 24 years, the Kalb Report public broadcasting series has explored freedom of the press, media literacy, leadership in journalism and the roles and responsibilities of the press in our democracy.

Along with the Journalism Institute, the Kalb Report is produced by a partnership with Harvard’s Shorenstein Center, University of Maryland University College, George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, the Gaylord College of Journalism at the University of Oklahoma, and the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.

It is underwritten by a grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.