Katie Couric's Sarah Palin Interview Wins Cronkite Award (VIDEO)

Katie Couric has won a Cronkite Award for her revealing, multi-part interview of Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

The Cronkite Awards have been presented biannually by the USC Annenberg School for Communication, in honor of CBS News legend Walter Cronkite, since 2000.

Couric won her award in the category "Special Achievement for National Impact on the 2008 Campaign." In the awards announcement, judges called Couric's interview with Palin a "defining moment in the 2008 presidential campaign," and described it as "extraordinary, persistent and detailed."

The interview — in which Palin spoke about Alaska's proximity to Russia and was unable to name a single national publication that she read — was an instant classic, and would be parodied on "Saturday Night Live," with Tina Fey playing Palin against Amy Poehler's Couric.

ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" also won a Cronkite Award, for its "On the Trail" series.

"Judges praised the incisive and compelling nature of the reports, as well as [Stephanopoulous'] thorough preparation," the announcement said.

Watch Couric's full award-winning interview with Palin below:

Comments

[TongoRad]

Couric:
"What happens if the goal of democracy doesn't produce the desired outcomes? For example, in Gaza the US pushed hard for elections and Hamas won."

Palin: "Huh?...yeah...well"

I missed that one the first time around. This interview is a gift that keeps on giving.

[pangurban]

Maybe the petty Katie Bashers will stop now. She deserves this.

[AndThenOneDay]

I've never been a fan, but that was an important service. A lot of conservatives dropped her at that point. As much as Couric-bashers claimed she sand-bagged Palin, she asked fair questions in an even-tempered manner. "What papers do you read" is not a gotcha question. It's actually a soft-ball for literate pols, but it's fair to ask, and you want to hear it asked of a relative unknown. All she had to say was the Times, the WSJ, Washington Times, and US News. Just ANYTHING. But what she said offered a window into a disturbingly incomplete person. That's as good as TV gets.

[SusanStoHelit]

Nope. This will just solidify their belief that the media is liberal. Think about it - they think "Where do you get your news" is a trap question. Rationality is not really going to work to convince them otherwise, when the idea of saying what newspaper you read is a shocking trap question.

[MissKaren]

That interview was as much a service to the country as her on-air colonoscopy. It made people think and it may have had a role in saving the country.

[Mriduls]

There is not a single American journalist in mainstream TV media that deserves an award. Kate Couric is the last person who deserves an award. Ok, she asked questions, but what about follow up questions. No journalist or reporter ever comes back with a follow up question. It is always a dead end question.
Tim Russert, who some herald as a great journalist, hardly ever asked a pointed question that resulted in a follow up or exposed falsehoods. Instead most of the time these journalists, especially Katie, engage in emotional exchanges that are touchy-feely, all about making the political guest feel comfortable and ready to purr... Yes, Katie exposed how dumb Sarah Palin was, but she should have really followed up with more questions and exposed what a fraud Palin was. The only journalist who deserves an award for journalistic excellence and creating an impact, is ironically a comedian-- the Great Jon Stewart!

[dozaa]

You are SOOOO right.

They ALWAYS drop the ball - it creates such an incomplete picture. Comedians call people on their BS, unapologetically.

Last week on Real Time I literally clapped my hand and whooped when Maher stuck it to T Boone Pickens about why if he was all Mr. Wind and renewable energy did he vote for McCain. He asked him 3 times and didn't let up - you NEVER see that on news.

[Oregondemo]

Am I the only one that noticed we have been virtually "Palin-free" the last 30 days or so?

I hope she disappears into oblivion - I swear to God I cannot take anymore of "that woman".

[texastrixie]

After the ABC interview of Palin where Charlie Gibson was trashed for being "mean" to Palin, I wrote on HuffPost that it would take a woman (suggesting Couric) to be able to get real insight into Palin without the interview being trashed as "unfair." No one who saw that interview could argue with any validity that Couric asked unfair questions. That was the beauty of the interview. Couric's questioning revealed Palin in ways that were unexpected, but which made Palin's lack of knowledge and intellectual curiosity apparent to voters. It was all downhill from there.

Couric has grown as she has come to know her audience and to adjust her on-air personna to be gracious instead of perky. She deserves this award because without that interview, I fear many Americans would not have understood the lack of depth in Palin's world view and understanding of Americans unlike herself. Couric did not set out to trash Palin, but to really let us understand who we would be electing to a heartbeat away from the Presidency. If Palin came up short, she has not one to blame but herself.

[Cuyahoga]

Well said Texastrixie - but I still want to know why so many people supported McCain/Palin! It's hard for me to believe what must be the truth: that the majority of people are stupid, and happy to be so.

[AnalyzeIT]

Thank you Katie and CONGRATULATIONS for helping too further expose that narcissistic, pathological lying hate mongering woman. GRRRRRRRRRRRRH!!!!

[consideration]

Brava, Ms Couric! Thank you, thank you, thank you, for your gentle persistence and your keeping a calm and polite demeanor and giving Silly Sarah enough rope to hang herself with. This series of interviews prevented our country from going down the drain.

There's been a lot of talk about how the msm has failed the country - and in some ways it has, especially in the fiasco of rubberstamping the Iraq War - but every now and then the 4th estate really stands up to the plate. Your interview was one of those occasions.

[readmewell22]

It's a Classic!!!

[Reg Guard]

Well done! I never tire of watching those interviews...

Alas, there is a serious side to Sarah Palin and the damage she inflicts on the people of Alaska.

A full portrait of the real Sarah Palin:

http://palingates.blogspot.com/

[readmewell22]

HA HA Lololo!!!! LMAO!!!

Well, it Should!!! BRAVO!!!

[aidancian]

Stunning...even more stunning to watch the second time around! Upon reflection, I am incredulous that McCain/Palin received more tha 25% of the vote.

Obama has accomplished more good in 50 days than Bush did in 8 years. Palin would have further gutted this country!

[CintiBlue]

Katie's interview was a Public Service Announcement.

[Barbara Smith]

Congratulations, Ms. Couric!

[kellygrrrl]

SweetJeebus on a Dinosaur! still shocking!