O'Reilly presents Freedman with Cosgrove Award during celebration of Kalb Report's decorated conclusion
During an event at the National Press Club Saturday to mark the conclusion of The Kalb Report, after 28 years, there was an unscripted moment for former Club President Michael Freedman.
Freedman, who led the Club through the heart of the coronavirus pandemic during his year as president in 2020, was presented with the John Cosgrove Award, which is given to former Club presidents who remain active in the Club following their term in office. In the years since he passed the gavel, as the award indicates, he continued to make strong contributions to the Club including executive producing the final two episodes of The Kalb Report.
In addition to shepherding The Kalb Report, Freedman has in the last couple years spearheaded the production of a radio version of “It’s a Wonderful Life” with 19 Club members covering 43 roles that has aired on CBS Radio the last two Christmas seasons; served on the board of the NPC Journalism Institute and raised funds for a series of journalism ethics programs entitled “Why Murrow Matters”; stayed active on the Club’s History and Heritage and Broadcast/Podcast teams; and loaned to the Club the microphone used by legendary CBS Radio News reporter Edward R. Murrow for broadcasts from London during The Blitz after his family acquired it from Murrow's son Casey and the Murrow family.
“And, perhaps most important — at least to me personally – is that you served as an essential mentor, adviser and friend to the three [Club] presidents who succeeded you – Lisa Matthews, Jen Judson and myself – as well as to [Club executive director] Bill McCarren and the Club staff,” Club President Eileen O’Reilly said.
The award is named after John Cosgrove, who served as Club president in 1961. Sworn in by Chief Justice Earl Warren for his term with President John F. Kennedy in the audience, Cosgrove continued to be a Club leader until his death in 2016 at the age of 98.
Freedman has followed the Cosgrove model by participating in the life of the Club after leaving office.
“You inspire us all to do more every day,” O’Reilly said.
Freedman also received kudos from Marvin Kalb, a former longtime Chief Diplomatic Correspondent for CBS and NBC News and moderator of The Kalb Report.
“He is a most remarkable person,” Kalb said.
Kalb Report Concludes Award-Winning Run
Kalb and Freedman, former general manager of CBS Radio Network News, created The Kalb Report in 1994. Freedman served as executive producer for each of the 103 episodes in the series. The Club reception Saturday, which drew 240 people, honored the two journalists and celebrated the show’s winning the 2023 Lifetime Achievement honor in the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards.
“If journalism is the first rough draft of history, then The Kalb Report is a masterpiece with no need for editing,” Rose Anderson, senior director of the New York Festivals, said at the Club event.
For nearly three decades, The Kalb Report brought prominent journalists, policy makers and thought leaders to the Club to examine the role of the press in promoting and defending democracy. Programs often attracted an audience of hundreds of Club members, journalists and college students. It was continued as a virtual program during the Covid pandemic.
Kalb was the last CBS News correspondent hired by Murrow, making him a member of the iconic “Murrow Boys.” He told the audience at the Club event that Murrow said democracy was upheld by two pillars – the judicial system and a free press.
Kalb Worries about Democracy
Kalb expressed concern about today’s challenges to democracy and the media. He pointed to the recent $787.5 million settlement between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems in a defamation case related to lies Fox News aired about voting integrity in the 2020 election.
He doubted the litigation would cause Fox to reform its journalistic practices.
“Do you think, on that basis, Fox is going to flip?” Kalb said. “I don’t.”
He ended his remarks on a somber note, saying he didn’t have the answers on how to repair American democracy.
“I don’t know the final sentence of this speech,” Kalb said. “I wish I had an upbeat, ringing voice of [optimism] about tomorrow. But I don’t.”
The Kalb Report has been a joint project of the Club, the NPC Journalism Institute, Maryland Public Television and American Public Television, University of Maryland Global Campus, the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs, Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center and the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma.
It is underwritten by a grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, a division of the Oklahoma-based Inasmuch Foundation, which will be funding work to archive and promote the entire series.
The last episode of The Kalb Report, which aired Feb. 18 and April 23 on Maryland Public Television, is now available on the Club’s website.
Freedman said he hopes the show’s lasting legacy will be to inspire journalists to follow “the courage of your convictions” and "always be seeking to make a positive difference in the world.”