 "Photo: Courtesy Photo")
The 2008 Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media has been awarded to Charles Overby, the Chief Executive Officer of the world's largest museum dedicated to news.
Overby, who helped start The Newseum, is the 21st individual honored by the university and the Freedom Forum since the Neuharth Award program began in 1989. The award is named for USA TODAY and Freedom Forum founder Al Neuharth, a South Dakota native and 1950 graduate of USD.
The Newseum is one of Washington, D.C.'s latest attractions. The museum features five centuries of historic news events as well as cutting-edge technology and a very un-museum-like ability to respond to today's breaking news with quick turnaround exhibits and programs.
Past recipients of the Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media include Walter Cronkite, Carl T. Rowan, Tom Brokaw, Larry King, Tim Russert, Don Hewitt and Bob Schieffer, among others.
This year's event will include a discussion with Overby about the challenges of launching a $450 million museum, which includes 14 galleries, 15 theaters, two broadcast studios and 135 interactive experiences. The evening also will feature "Rhythm and News," a live multimedia show and musical performance looking at the intersection of music, news and history.
The free event will begin at 7 p.m. Oct. 9 in Slagle Auditorium. Doors will be open for ticket-holders from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.; general admission for any remaining seats will follow from 6:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.
Tickets (limit of five per request) are available in advance at the Al Neuharth Media Center or by specifying the quantity needed and sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Free Tickets, Al Neuharth Media Center, 555 Dakota St., Vermillion, SD, 57069.
The program will be televised live and statewide 7-9 p.m. Central Time on South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
Overby's career covered many areas of news
Overby has a lifetime of achievements in the media, marked by his newspaper winning the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Public Service while editor in Jackson, Miss., and later working as vice president of news and communications at Gannett.
As the Freedom Forum's chief executive since 1989, Overby teamed with USD President James Abbott to make the Al Neuharth Media Center a reality.
"Charles Overby's most enduring accomplishment occurred this year, with the opening of the magnificent new Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington," Al Neuharth said.
"That is a direct result of his vision, persistence, leadership and orchestration." In its content, and by virtue of its location on historic Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and U.S. Capitol and adjacent to the National Mall, the Newseum sits at the intersection of history, news and politics. Overby's career reflects a similar nexus.
He has served two stints in government: He was press assistant to Sen. John Stennis, D-Miss., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and special assistant for administration to Gov. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.
He worked for 16 years as a reporter, editor and corporate executive for Gannett Co., the nation's largest newspaper company. As a reporter, he covered the White House, presidential campaigns, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Overby is a former editor of The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss. Under his leadership, the newspaper won the Pulitzer Prize Public Service Award for news and editorials on education reform in Mississippi in 1983.
Overby was vice president for news and communications for Gannett and served on the management committees of Gannett and USA TODAY.
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