Carol Burnett Award for Responsible Journalism has helped nearly 100 UH students
Actress Carol Burnett was honored during her show Friday evening (March 6) by several UH Mānoa journalism program alumni who were past recipients of the Carol Burnett Award for Responsible Journalism. The audience clapped and cheered when the alumni and the Ka Leo student newspaper editor stood up and showed the plaque with 93 award winners listed.
They went backstage after the show and presented Burnett with a lei and the plaque. One described the experience as “a magical moment.”
Burnett was presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from UH Mānoa the following night.
The University of Hawaiʻi Journalism Program’s emphasis on ethics and responsibility in journalism was strengthened by a gift of $100,000 from Burnett.
was endowed in 1981 following her successful libel suit against the National Enquirer. The fund supports “teaching and research designed to further high standards of ethics and professionalism in journalism, and for awards to outstanding students who have demonstrated a strong sense of journalistic responsibility and integrity." The fund also supports special guest lectures.
Former winner Kimberlee Speakman presents a lei to Carol Burnett, who is holding the plaque of student names. Photo by Craig Fujii.
The next Carol Burnett lecture will be given by Bryan Pollard on Monday, March 23, from noon to 2 p.m. in the UH Mānoa Campus Center Dining Room. Pollard is a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University in California and former president of the Native American Journalists Association. His topic is: “Challenges to an Indigenous Free Press.” For more information contact Professor Ann Auman, Carol Burnett Fund administrator, at auman@hawaii.edu.
Transcripts and videos of previous lectures (1982-2018) are archived here at Pacific Media Ethics https://www.pacificmediaethics.org/burnett-lectures
