Arlington, Va., Oct. 10, 2007 -- The Media Institute will bestow awards on Kenneth W. Lowe and Tony Snow at its annual Friends & Benefactors Awards Banquet Oct. 16 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Lowe will receive the American Horizon Award, while Snow will receive the Freedom of Speech Award. The master of ceremonies will be communications attorney and former FCC chairman Richard E. Wiley.

Lowe is president and CEO of The E.W. Scripps Company. Snow is a longtime journalist and former press secretary to President George W. Bush. Snow left his White House post in September.

Pat Mitchell, president and CEO of The Paley Center for Media, will present the American Horizon Award to Lowe. The award recognizes leadership in promoting the vitality and independence of American media and communications. Ann Compton of ABC News, who is also president of the White House Correspondents Association, will present the Freedom of Speech Award to Snow. The award is given to an individual who has helped advance freedom of expression.

Peter S. Prichard, president of The Newseum, will deliver keynote remarks. Prichard was editor of USA Today from 1988 to 1994 in a career with Gannett that began in 1972.

The black-tie event will also mark the third annual National Freedom of Speech Week (NFSW), Oct. 15-21, 2007. A wide variety of organizations and educational institutions are joining The Media Institute to celebrate this national commemorative week.

Information about National Freedom of Speech Week, including Partnering Organizations, can be found at www.freespeechweek.org.

The banquet will begin with a reception at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 7:15 p.m. The Four Seasons Hotel is located at 2800 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., in Washington. For information about purchasing a table of 10, contact Susanna Coto at 703-243-5700.

The Media Institute is a nonprofit research foundation specializing in communications policy and the First Amendment. For more information, visit the Institute online at www.mediainstitute.org.