Awkward. Inspiring. Hilarious. That’s how it looked from my seat at last night’s RTDNF dinner honoring some of the biggest names in broadcast news.
Awkward? That would be ABC News president David Westin speed-reading his way through remarks accepting the First Amendment leadership award just a week after announcing plans for drastic staff cuts. When he stressed the importance of having “reporters out in the field doing the work that needs to be done and…the resources to support them” the silence in the room said it all.
The inspiration came later, from CBS Radio News vice president Harvey Nagler, who accepted the First Amendment service award and paid tribute to correspondent Cami McCormick, “one of the most courageous, fearless individuals” he’s ever known. And there she was among us, standing to be recognized, still recovering from the horrific injuries she suffered in Afghanistan when a roadside bomb destroyed the Army vehicle she was riding in. McCormick still faces more surgery but Nagler said she’s almost ready to return to work, which is what she wants most of all.
And the hilarity? That would be thanks to NBC’s Brian Williams, who accepted the Leonard Zeidenberg Award from his boss, NBC News president Steve Capus after an introduction that was so effusive Williams had to mock it right off the top.
Sorry, I couldn’t disable the autoplay feature on the video. I do wish embed codes wouldn’t make that automatic, don’t you?
