The executive chairman of one of the nation’s biggest family-owned radio and television companies and a 30-year veteran of ABC News Radio are being honored with First Amendment Leadership and Service Awards, respectively, by the Radio Television Digital News Foundation (RTDNF).
Stanley Hubbard, the 84-year-old Executive Chairman/CEO and President of Hubbard Broadcasting, will receive the First Amendment Leadership Award at the RTDNF’s First Amendment Awards, set for March 14 at the Grand Hyatt Washington.
The award is presented annually to a business or government leader who has made a significant contribution to the protection of the First Amendment and freedom of the press.
Concurrently, ABC Radio News VP/GM Steve Jones is being honored with the First Amendment Service Award, which recognizes a news professional who works largely behind the scenes.
Mr. Hubbard has been associated with the company that bears his surname since 1951. He rose to the role of President in 1967, and became Chairman/CEO in 1983. His daughter, Ginny Morris, is Chairman/CEO of subsidiary Hubbard Radio.
On the TV side, Hubbard owns such stations as flagship KSTP-5 in Minneapolis; WNYT-13 in Albany, N.Y.; KOB-4 in Albuquerque; WHEC-10 in Rochester, N.Y.; KAAL-6 in Rochester, Minn.; and WDIO-10 in Duluth, Minn.
KSTP, WDIO and KAAL are ABC affiliates.
Jones has been associated with ABC Radio News since 1986, when he became a Senior Producer and News Writer following a year as an air personality and news anchor at the former WXRK-FM 92.3 “K-Rock” in New York.
Jones has held his current role as VP/GM and Executive Producer of ABC Radio News since 2003.
The Radio Television Digital News Foundation provides training programs, seminars,
scholarship support and research in areas of critical concern to electronic news
professionals and their audiences.
The First Amendment Awards Dinner is the most significant fundraising event on the RTDNF’s calendar and depends on funds raised at this event to support its slate of programs and activities.
This year’s ceremony will also feature a Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed upon NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg, and Special Memorial Tribute that includes former PBS NewsHour Managing Editor Gwen Ifill, former RTDNF trustee George Glazer and NPR photographer and video editor David Gilkey.
