Jeff Greenfield

Jeff Greenfield, CNN co-anchor and senior analyst for CNN's The World Today, will host the 58th annual Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards in television and radio journalism on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2000.

Thirteen/WNET New York will air the hour-long awards program the following evening at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS stations (check local listings).

The event, which is by invitation only, will feature excerpts of winning news programs, many of them never before aired nationwide, and will take place in the Rotunda of Low Memorial Library.

Presenters at the ceremony will be Gwen Ifill, PBS senior correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and moderator of Washington Week in Review; Susan Spencer, CBS News correspondent for 48 Hours; Jack Ford, ABC News anchor and correspondent for 20/20; George Rupp, president of Columbia University; and Tom Goldstein, dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, which administers the awards.

The awards go to nationally distributed television programs; major, medium and small market television stations; radio and cable programs; and independently produced programs. Programs aired between July 1, 1998 and June 30, 1999 are eligible for the duPont Awards, which are considered the highest honor in broadcast journalism, comparable to the Pulitzer Prizes in print journalism.

Silver Batons are awarded to the winners of the duPont-Columbia University Awards, and the Gold Baton, the highest award, is given to an individual program or series judged to have made an exceptional contribution to broadcast journalism.

The awards honoring overall excellence were established in 1942 by the late Jessie Ball duPont in memory of her husband, Alfred I. duPont. Since 1968, they have been administered by Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism.

In addition to Dean Tom Goldstein, the jurors for this year's awards are: Philip S. Balboni, president, New England Cable News; Barbara S. Cochran, president, Radio & Television News Directors Association and former CBS News Washington Bureau chief; John Dinges, assistant professor at the Journalism School and former NPR editorial director; Lawrence K. Grossman, former president of NBC News and PBS; David Klatell, associate dean for academic affairs and coordinator of broadcast programs at the Journalism School; Eric Mink, television columnist for the New York Daily News and formerly, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Betty Rollin, contributing correspondent for NBC News and the PBS program Religion and Ethics News Weekly; and George Strait, senior counselor, Issuesphere, and former chief medical correspondent for ABC News.

The 58th annual Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards in television and radio journalism is produced by Thirteen/WNET New York for PBS. Executive producer is Jonnet Abeles; producer is Christopher Lukas. Director is Wayne Palmer. Stephen Segaller is executive in charge for Thirteen/WNET New York.

Columbia 's Graduate School of Journalism administers some of the most prestigious prizes in journalism. In addition to the duPont Awards, they include the Pulitzer Prizes, the National Magazine Awards, the Maria Moors Cabot Prizes and the Alfred Eisenstaedt awards for magazine photography.