Earlier this week Washington, D.C., journalists had their red-carpet moment at the 28th annual awards dinner hosted by the National Press Foundation. Receiving top billing was one of the most prominent journalists to graduate from Wake Forest, Al Hunt (’65, P ’11), executive Washington editor for Bloomberg News and host of “Political Capital” on Bloomberg Television. He is also a member of the WFU Board of Trustees.
“Few journalists have had more impact in shaping the practice of journalism in Washington than Al Hunt has had,” NPF board chairman Gerald F. Seib, executive Washington editor for The Wall Street Journal, said in a statement from the foundation. “First in covering Congress, then as a nationally respected political correspondent, then as a television presence, then as an editor and manager, he has demonstrated that it’s possible — in fact, essential — to bring fairness, accuracy, balance, toughness and analytical insights into the coverage of our nation’s elected and appointed leaders. More than that, newsrooms across Washington are populated with journalists who learned these lessons from Al Hunt, and have gone on to spread his influence across the nation’s capital.”
Hunt received The Chairman’s Citation, determined solely by the nonprofit educational foundation’s chairman. It honors “individuals or organizations whose work falls outside traditional categories of excellence.” Previous honorees have included Colbert I. King, columnist with the Washington Post; Otis Chandler, former publisher of the Los Angeles Times; and the journalists of the Gulf Coast, who kept working through Hurricane Katrina despite great personal suffering to keep their readers, viewers and listeners informed.
On April 13 Hunt and his wife, Judy Woodruff, will appear at 6 p.m. in Wait Chapel in a Voices of Our Time event. Woodruff is a senior correspondent for “The PBS NewsHour” and anchor of “Conversations with Judy Woodruff” on Bloomberg Television. In a conversation with President Nathan Hatch, the couple will discuss the intertwining of political, cultural and journalistic life in Washington and share insights on raising a family in the nation’s capital.
