WASHINGTON: The National Association of Black Journalists announced at its spring board of directors meeting that NBC News will receive its annual Best Practices Award. NBC Universal Executive Vice President Paula Madison will receive the group’s Legacy Award. NBC News and Madison will be honored at the association's 35th Annual Convention and Career Fair in San Diego, Calif.
“NBC News and its owned-and-operated stations nationwide have done tremendous work promoting diversity in their management positions as well as in their coverage. NABJ has championed such issues in news for 35 years,” NABJ President Kathy Times said.
The Best Practices Award is the NABJ’s highest honor to a news organization, given annually for exemplary coverage of issue affecting black communities and for increasing staff diversity.
NBC News had the highest number of African-American executives of any broadcast or cable network in the country, NABJ’s annual survey found.
Madison is executive vice president of diversity for NBC Universal and an executive with parent company General Electric. She’s receiving the Legacy Award for her work at NBC News, developing programs that mirror the diversity of customers, clients and audiences. She began her career as a print journalist before moving on to become a TV news manager, then a lead executive of NBC’s Los Angeles O&O.
Madison was the first African-American woman to become a general manager of a top five network-owned television station. She was also the first person to hold the position of senior vice president of diversity at NBC.
Other honorees will include CNN’s Soledad O’Brien for Journalist of the Year, and NABJ Founder Paul Delaney for Lifetime Achievement. The NABJ’s 35th Annual Convention and Career Fair will take place July 28- Aug. 1 in San Diego, Calif.
