| Barbara
Cochran,
Recipient of the Freedom of Speech Award
 Barbara
Cochran has been president of the Radio-Television News
Directors Association since 1997. RTNDA is the world’s largest professional
organization devoted to electronic journalism, representing
local and network news executives in broadcasting, cable,
and other electronic media in more than 30 countries.
Ms. Cochran’s journalism career has
spanned 30 years in Washington. She began as a copy desk trainee at the
Washington
Star in 1968 and rose to managing editor. Ms. Cochran moved to broadcast journalism in 1979
when she became news director and then vice president of
news for National Public Radio. In 1983, she became political editor for NBC News,
and later was executive producer of “Meet the Press” for
four years.
From 1989 to 1995, Ms. Cochran was vice
president and Washington bureau chief of CBS News. She directed the network’s coverage of the Bush and
Clinton administrations, the Persian Gulf War, and the
Republican landslide in the 1994 congressional elections.
Ms. Cochran later served as executive producer of
politics for CBS News. She is a graduate of Swarthmore College and holds a
Master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate
School of Journalism.
A champion of the First Amendment, Ms.
Cochran led RTNDA to victory in its 17-year battle to repeal
the FCC’s personal attack and political editorial rules.
A federal appeals court finally ordered the FCC to
repeal the speech-restrictive rules in October 2000. For her leadership in this struggle, and for her
outspoken support of the First Amendment throughout her career, The Media Institute recognizes Barbara Cochran with
its Freedom of Speech Award.
Charles F. Dolan,
Recipient of the American Horizon Award
 Charles F. Dolan is chairman of Cablevision Systems
Corporation, one of the nation’s leading
telecommunications and entertainment companies. A Cleveland native, Mr. Dolan served in the U.S. Air
Force and attended John Carroll University before embarking
on a career in cable television and entertainment. He was the first to wire cable in Manhattan in the
1960s before founding HBO in the early 1970s.
In
1973, Mr. Dolan founded Cablevision as a cable television
operator serving 1,500 households in New York’s Long
Island suburbs. Today,
Cablevision’s state-of-the-art fiber-optic cable system
serves 3 million customers in the New York metropolitan
area. In addition, its operations range from high-speed Internet
access and robust cable TV packages to professional sports
teams and national programming networks.
Cablevision’s
Rainbow Media division reaches 200 million subscribers
worldwide through its national, regional, and local
programming networks including American Movie Classics (AMC),
Bravo, and the MSG Network. Cablevision also has a controlling interest in
Madison Square Garden and its sports teams, the New York
Knicks, Rangers, and Liberty. In addition, the company operates Radio City Music
Hall as well as THE WIZ retail stores and the Clearview
Cinemas Group.
In
2001, Mr. Dolan served on President Bush’s transition team
overseeing the Federal Communications Commission. He is also a managing director of the New York
Metropolitan Opera, a trustee of Fairfield University, and a
member of St. Francis Hospital’s board of governors.
The
Media Institute recognizes Charles F. Dolan as a true
visionary and leader of the cable industry, and is pleased
to honor him with its American Horizon Award.
Fred Upton,
Special Guest
The Honorable Fred Upton has been a
member of the U.S. House of Representatives since January
1987, representing Michigan’s Sixth Congressional
District.
Congressman Upton serves as chairman of
the Telecommunications Subcommittee of the House Commerce
Committee. In
that role he oversees a subcommittee that is the gateway for
legislation, such as the Telecommunications Act of 1996,
having the potential to redefine and reinvigorate the
nation’s communications landscape.
Congressman Upton is also a member of
the Committee on Education and the Workforce. There his subcommittee assignments involve him in
issues running the gamut from early childhood and youth to
life-long learning.
Congressman Upton’s Capitol Hill
experience dates to 1976, when he began working as a
legislative affairs specialist for Congressman David
Stockman of Michigan. He
moved to the Office of Management and Budget in 1981, and
served as OMB’s director for legislative affairs from 1983
to 1985.
A
native of St. Joseph, Mich., Congressman Upton graduated
from the University of Michigan with a degree in journalism.
His district comprises the southwest corner of Michigan’s
Lower Peninsula, including St. Joseph and Kalamazoo.
|
