Stewart will receive the Walter Cronkite Award alongside a group of political journalists including Rachel Maddow and ’60 Minutes’ correspondent Scott Pelley
Jon Stewart is breaking new ground at the annual Walter Cronkite Awards for Excellence in Political Journalism.
The Daily Show host, 63, will be honored at the ceremony for his work in a new award category: Comedic News and Commentary. The awards, which were first established in 2001, are administered by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism’s Norman Lear Center.
Judges for the event — which recognizes “journalists whose work exemplifies the role of a free press in protecting constitutional principles, defending the rule of law, and holding power to account” — described Stewart as a “pioneer” and “vital voice” in his category.
They noted, “Jon Stewart redefined satire as astute insights based on solid research,” and also lauded Stewart as “a master of his class,” specifically pointing to his Daily Show segment on DOGE and its destructive budget cuts, for which he was nominated.
Stewart “remains relevant, bringing 5 valuable facts to light, advancing public discourse, urging civic action,” judges said.
Honorees in the Network News, Analysis and Commentary category include NBC chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander for his reporting from the White House press room; Scott Pelley, Bill Owens and Maria Gavrilovic for their work on the
60 Minutes segment “The Rule of Law”; and PBS Newshour co-anchors Amna Nawaz and Geoff Bennett for their “On Democracy” interview series.
Rachel Maddow will also be honored in the category for her coverage of the Hands Off protest movement on April 7 on her eponymous show, along with outgoing CBS Evening News Plus anchor John Dickerson for his “Reporter’s Notebook” segment and Noticias Telemundo anchor Julio Vaqueiro for his
100 Days of Trump primetime special.
Pelley notably implied to viewers in a 60 Minutes closing segment this spring that the show’s parent company, Paramount Global, had begun to push back on some of their more hard-hitting segments, particularly those about the Trump administration.
His remarks came one week after Owens — who previously served as the show’s executive producer — resigned from his post, claiming in a memo that he had lost the ability to “make independent decisions” about the show and “what was right for
60 Minutes” and its audience.
In the Cronkite Award-honored segment “The Rule of Law,” which aired in May, Pelley and his colleagues reported on President Donald Trump’s string of orders targeting law firms, all of which had legal cases linked to the president or his allies.
The Cronkite Awards will also honor KFOR-TV Oklahoma City investigative reporter Spencer Humphrey in the Local News category, and will award NBC Affiliate KSL-TV 5 the 2025 Brooks Jackson Prize for their fact-checking.
Stewart’s recognition comes after he returned to The Daily Show as a part-time host in February 2024 following his 2015 exit. He was nominated for two Emmy Awards for his work on the show in 2025, receiving nods in both the Outstanding Talk Series and Outstanding Writing For A Variety Series categories.
Stewart last won an Emmy for his work on The Daily Show during his final year as full-time host, winning the Outstanding Variety Talk Series award in 2015.
The Walter Cronkite Awards ceremony will take place on Friday, Dec. 12, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Maddow, Pelley, Alexander, Vaqueiro and more will be in attendance.
Stewart and Dickerson are not expected to attend, but will share original video messages at the event.
This year’s Cronkite Awards carry added significance for Dickerson and Pelley, who have each anchored the same, historic…
