Some of broadcast journalism’s most distinguished veterans were in the spotlight at Monday’s 28th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards in Manhattan.
Ted Koppel, honored for lifetime achievement, also won an award for Outstanding Informational Programming – Long Form. Mike Wallace took home a statuette for Outstanding Interview, and Tom Brokaw‘s global warming special on The Discovery Channel was singled out for Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story – Long Form. A report by the late Ed Bradley — on the Duke rape case — earned a nod for Best Report in a News Magazine.
Ironically, Wallace’s award (for his interview of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) and Koppel’s (for his Discovery Channel special Iran: The Most Dangerous Nation) were bestowed on the same day the Iranian president spoke in New York City.
PBS won the horse race with 9 Emmys (four for Frontline). Here’s the rest of the scoreboard:
CBS News – 5 (60 Minutes earning four)
Discovery Channel – 3
NBC News – 3 (including one for Ann Curry‘s Crisis in Darfur)
HBO/Cinemax – 2
ABC News – 1 (for Brian Ross Investigates)
CNN – 1 (for Election Night)
Documentary Channel – 1
Award presenters included Tim Russert, who, according to The Hollywood Reporter, introduced fellow presenter Dan Rather as, “my guess, soon a star of a reality series on Court TV with Les Moonves.”
A complete list of winners is posted at the Emmy website. The ceremony is to be telecast on C-Span on a yet-to-be announced date.
> More: In her awards round-up, the Los Angeles Times‘ Matea Gold writes that last night, “one of the most poignant moments was a personal one, with lifetime achievement recipient Ted Koppel performing a song he composed for his wife. As the anchor warbled, ‘Any place you’re not is a place I wouldn’t want to be’, many in the black-tie crowd wiped their eyes.”