Journalist Scott Pelley was a mainstay of CBS News and someone people might know as a correspondent for “60 Minutes,” although he was once the network's national evening news anchor.
On Friday, he received one of the 2025 Walter Cronkite Awards, which are issued “biennially from USC [University of Southern California] Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism.” This year's application theme, which is quite progressive, is unlikely to shock readers:
This year's competition featured entries demonstrating how a free press protects democracy.
…
While numerous independent polls show that the vast majority of Americans are deeply concerned about the future of democracy, the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Political Journalism in Television and Digital Media recognizes journalists whose work exemplifies the role of a free press in defending constitutional principles, the rule of law and holding government accountable.
I think that before we proceed, it is extremely important to understand the underlying tone of this event. More on what Pelley said in a minute.
Another Walter Cronkite Award winner, John Dickerson, recently left his job at CBS, taking the same news anchor chair as his colleague.
Ahead of the ceremony, held at the National Press Club in Washington, Dickerson shared that the CBS Evening News Plus honoree has already left the airwriting in a Facebook post above a screenshot of the USC Annenberg announcement.
“Today we won the Cronkite Award for an essay for Evening News Plus that aired last Friday.”
Back to Scott Pelley. During his speech on Friday afternoon, he made the obligatory criticism of the Trump administration over its supposed destruction of press freedom:
60 Minutes' Scott Pelley claims they can't invite people to the show because of “the fear that has spread throughout the country.”
He then praises himself for persevering in the face of such enormous odds.
The importance that these propaganda hackers still attach… pic.twitter.com/WeN6IskOIu
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) December 12, 2025
Of course, this is the rote smugness and self-congratulation we're used to hearing, including a not-so-veiled reference to the left's precious war on journalism and/or democracy as we know it, courtesy of that mean old Donald Trump.
But many of the journalist's comments were positive, including regarding major changes taking place at CBS's parent company, Paramount, according to The Guardian's Jeremy Barr:
Accepting the Cronkite Award this afternoon in Washington, Scott Pelley had this to say about the current season of 60 Minutes: “Our company is now the new Paramount, and at 60 Minutes we were all very concerned about what that meant. It's still early, but I can tell you…
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) December 12, 2025
“It's still early, but I can tell you we're doing the same stories with the same rigor, and we haven't faced any corporate interference.”
Pelley, even while expressing dismay that some of his “60 Minutes” co-stars left CBS after the previous season, showed optimism free to do the work his team desires:
Pelley said it was “heartbreaking” for the “60 Minutes” team to lose Bill Owens and Wendy McMahon.
“I will say, though, that season, last season, all of our stories aired. We put them all on the air with an absolute minimum of interference – nothing that would alarm anyone in this room.”
SEE: The Amazing Question Bari Weiss Asked the 60 Minutes Crew That Left Their Jaws Dropped
As it turned out, the boss failed to get a big name from another network (Anderson Cooper andmade a new deal from CNN a few days ago)..
But it could have been someone else. Weiss' latest move (something of a coup) was to lure ABC News national correspondent Matt Gutman to the same job at CBS, as The NY Post exclusively reported this week:
CBS News cast ABC News journalist Matt Gutman in 'lead role' after he was 'relentlessly pursued' by Bari Weiss: sources https://t.co/RVmp7K1u94 pic.twitter.com/NqFJWp5foI
— New York Post (@nypost) December 8, 2025
David Strom, as my colleague at sister site Hot Air noted, also won a journalism award on Friday, as did some familiar, if in one case unusual, faces: Rachel Maddow of MS NOW and comedian Jon Stewart of The Daily Show on Comedy Central.
1. Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow will be among the honorees Friday when USC Annenberg presents its Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Political Journalism. Additionally, honorees will include 60 Minutes' Scott Pelley, NBC News' Peter Alexander, pic.twitter.com/5p5zkm3ehW
— Howard Prince (@Howodd69) December 10, 2025
User X wrote above on topic What “[i]Additionally, honorees will include Scott Pelley of 60 Minutes, Peter Alexander of NBC News, Julio Vaqueiro of Noticias Telemundo, PBS NewsHour and John Dickerson, who recently announced his departure from the network after most recently serving as anchor of the CBS Evening News.”
Strom wrote
But as the USC Annenberg School of Journalism shows, journalists now believe that being a judge means being a rock for your team.
One hopes that Stewart will admit that he is a comedian and not a journalist. Like many comedians, he uses his platform to express political views, but I have a secret hope that when he accepts his award, he will ridicule the Annenberg School for giving it to him.
While Pelley's words may signal the first steps in how traditional media is improving in the “Golden Age of Trump,” so to speak, I wouldn't hold my breath over Stewart's humility on this occasion.
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