Political correspondent Candy Crowley to receive William Allen White citation
LAWRENCE – Candy Crowley, CNN’s chief political correspondent, will receive the 2012 William Allen White Foundation National Citation Feb. 10. The award ceremony and public lecture, which are free to the public, will be at 1:30 p.m. in Woodruff Auditorium at the Kansas Union.
Crowley joined CNN in 1987 as a congressional correspondent from NBC News. She began her broadcast journalism career as a newsroom assistant for Metromedia radio station WASH in Washington, D.C., after graduating from Randolph-Macon Women’s College. Crowley later served as an anchor for Mutual Broadcasting and as a general assignment and White House correspondent for the Associated Press during the Reagan presidency before moving to NBC News. She became the anchor of CNN’s “State of the Union With Candy Crowley” in February 2010.
“Candy Crowley is an expert on politics, politicians and the events that have changed the world over the last two decades,” said Ann M. Brill, dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. “We are happy to present her with this citation and have her join the distinguished list of journalists who have received it. We also are looking forward to her sharing her thoughts on the state of journalism today.”
During her career, Crowley has covered major newsmakers, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, outgoing Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, former President George W. Bush, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and 2012 Republican presidential candidates Jon Huntsman, Tim Pawlenty and Rep. Ron Paul. Her list also includes Pat Buchanan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Howard Dean, Bob Dole, Jesse Jackson, Edward Kennedy, John Kerry, Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan. She has covered all but one national political convention since Jimmy Carter was nominated for president.
Crowley’s career has taken her around the nation and the world. In addition to covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast, Crowley reported from the beaches of Normandy on ceremonies marking D-Day’s 40th anniversary as well as Ronald Reagan’s trips to China, Bitburg and Bergen-Belsen. She also covered the 1983 terrorist bombing of U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut and the U.S. bombing of Libya.
“Candy has earned a reputation all around Washington as the consummate pro in television journalism: Tough but fair, smart, knowledgeable and with a great sense of news,” said Jerry Seib, a William Allen White Foundation Trustee. “She’s well-respected for all the right reasons.”
The Associate Press honored Crowley with its Broadcasters’ Award for spot news reporting for her coverage of the Reagan campaign, as well as an award for her in-depth reporting on the 1980 Reagan campaign. She received the 2003 and 1998 Dirksen Awards for distinguished reporting on Congress from the National Press Foundation. She also won the 1997 Joan Shorenstein Barone Award for her coverage of Bob Dole’s campaign for presidency. In 2003, Crowley received an Emmy for her work on CNN Presents Enemy Within, and in 2004 she won the Gracie Allen Award in the “National New Story-Series” category for “War Stories” and a National Headliner and a Cine award for CNN Presents Fit to Kill. In 2005, Crowley was honored with the Edward R. Murrow Award and another Joan Shorenstein Barone Award for her excellence in journalism for her coverage on the 2004 presidential election.
The William Allen White Foundation trustees chose Crowley to receive the citation, presented annually since 1950. KU’s William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications is named in White’s honor. White (1868-1944) was a nationally influential Kansas editor and publisher. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1923 and posthumously in 1947.
Other notable recipients of the William Allen White Citation include James Reston, 1950; Walter Cronkite, 1969; Arthur O. Sulzberger, 1974; James J. Kilpatrick, 1979; Helen Thomas, 1986; Charles Kuralt, 1989; Bernard Shaw 1994; Bob Woodward, 2000; Molly Ivins, 2001; Cokie Roberts, 2002; Gerald F. Seib, 2005; Gordon Parks, 2006; Seymour Hersh, 2008; Leonard Pitts Jr., 2010; and John Carroll, 2011. A complete list of past recipients is available at the School of Journalism's website.