The Media Institute's friends and benefactors gathered at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 20, 1999 to honor FCC Commissioner Michael K. Powell and cable industry leader Decker Anstrom. Com. Powell received the Institute's 1999 Freedom of Speech Award. Anstrom was honored with the Institute's American Horizon Award. Special guest Senator Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, was the keynote speeaker. Communications attorney and former FCC chairman Richard E. Wiley served as master of ceremonies.

Com. Powell was recognized for his role as a vigorous and outspoken advocate of the First Amendment since joining the FCC in 1997. Decker Anstrom, president and CEO of The Weather Channel, was honored for his leadership of the cable industry as preside nt of the National Cable Television Association from 1994 to 1999. Chief Judge Harry T. Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit presented the Freedom of Speech Award to Com. Powell. Judith McHale, president and COO of Discovery Communications, Inc., presented the American Horizon Award to Anstrom.