Mirror Awards

The John M. Higgins Award for Best In-Depth/Enterprise Reporting was established by the Newhouse School in December 2011 to honor the late Broadcasting & Cable business editor, who died in 2006.[6][7] The award is supported by a financial gift from Discovery Communications and Time Warner Cable and carries a $5,000 cash prize. Each of the remaining awards carries a $1,000 cash prize.[6]

Nominations for the Mirror Awards are made online each year beginning in December. The competition is open to anyone who conducts reporting, commentary or criticism of the media industries. Eligible work includes print, broadcast and online editorial content focusing on the development or distribution of news and entertainment. Entries are evaluated based on excellence of craft, framing of the issue and appropriateness for the intended audience. Winners are chosen by a group of journalists and journalism educators.[2]

Winners are honored at an awards ceremony in New York City each June. Ceremony emcees have included Meredith Vieira (2007);[8] Andy Borowitz (2008);[9] Newhouse alumna Contessa Brewer '96 (2009);[10] Katie Couric (2010);[11] Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski (2011);[12] Anderson Cooper (2012);[13] David Muir (2013);[14] Gayle King (2014);[15] Savannah Guthrie (2015);[16] Newhouse alumnus Jeff Glor '97 (2016);[17] Jenna Bush Hager (2017);[18] Kimberly Brooks (2018);[19] Alisyn Camerota (2019);[20] Michelle Marsh (2021),[21] and Contessa Brewer (2022).[22]

The awards ceremony also includes the presentation of two special awards: the Fred Dressler Leadership Award, named for the late cable executive and former chair of the Newhouse Advisory Board, which is given to individuals or organizations that have made distinct, consistent and unique contributions to the public’s understanding of the media; and the i-3 award for impact, innovation and influence, which is given to individuals or organizations that have made a profound impact on the media landscape or have captured the public’s imagination about the potential or importance of the media in a unique way. Recipients of the Dressler Award have included Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times;[52][53] Jorge Ramos of Noticias Univision (2021); Jeff Zucker, president of CNN Worldwide and chairman of WarnerMedia News and Sports (2019); Sheila Nevins of HBO Documentary Films (2018); journalist Tom Brokaw (2017); David Levy ’84, president of Turner Broadcasting System (2016); Josh Sapan, president and CEO of AMC Networks (2015); David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery Communications (2014); Anne Sweeney, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney-ABC Television Group (2013); Brian L. Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast (2011); Bloomberg L.P. (2010); Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post (2009); political journalist Tim Russert (posthumously, 2008); and Peter Bart, editor-in-chief of Variety (2007). Recipients of the i-3 award have included Twitch (service) (2019); NPR (2018);[54] The New York Times Company (2017); Nonny de la Peña (2016); David Carr (journalist) (posthumously, 2015); Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg (2014); Nate Silver (2013); John S. and James L. Knight Foundation (2012); Newhouse alumnus Dennis Crowley ’98 and Naveen Selvadurai, co-founders of Foursquare (2011); Twitter (2010); Obama for America New Media Department/Blue State Digital (2009); and CNN/YouTube (2008).

In 2021, the Newhouse School announced the establishment of the Lorraine Branham IDEA Award, named for the school's late dean, to recognize a media organization that has worked to promote inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility over the course of the previous year. Brown Girls Doc Mafia was the inaugural recipient.[55] In 2022, The 19th News won the award.[22]

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