The 2023 NAB Show kicked off today in Las Vegas, and in addition to the countless sessions, panels and exhibits are a number of award ceremonies.
Among the honorees this year is 60 Minutes, which, on Monday, received the second annual Insight Award from the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation (LABF) during this year’s NAB Show welcome session.
According to the LABF, the Insight Award recognizes an individual or organization for an outstanding artistic or journalistic work or body of work that enhances the public’s understanding of the role, operation, history or impact of media in our society.
60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens accepted the award today on the show’s behalf.
“On our best nights, I like to think we inform and educate our audience,” Owens said. “I remind our staff all the time, 60 Minutes broadcasts to the entire country. We want to reach folks in Savannah, Georgia and San Francisco, Boston and Boise, Dallas and Detroit.”
He added, “At this moment in time, the country deserves an hour of well-told, well-researched news that is going to make them think. We take our responsibility very seriously at 60 Minutes, and I am deeply honored to be able to carry on Don Hewitt’s vision and protect the work and legacy of Mike [Wallace], Morley [Safer], Ed [Bradley] and Diane [Sawyer].
I would sooner step down than change the way this American institution works.”
Owens was named ep in February 2019, replacing Jeff Fager after serving as the program’s senior producer for the previous 12 years. During his 35-year career at CBS News, Owens has worked in a number of producer roles including as senior broadcast producer for CBS Evening News and as the CBS News senior White House producer, working closely with Scott Pelley during that time. He has received numerous Emmy Awards, an Edward R. Murrow Overall Excellence Award and an Investigative Reporters and Editors Award, to name a few.