Jake Tapper, anchor and chief Washington correspondent for CNN, will be honored for his work by Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication this fall.
Tapper, anchor of the weekday program, “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” and the Sunday morning show, “State of the Union,” will receive the Lew Klein Excellence in the Media Award on Oct. 4. He the 19th recipient of the award, bestowed at a luncheon ceremony at which six distinguished Klein College alumni will also be honored. Proceeds from the event go to student scholarships.
Tapper grew up in the Queen Village neighborhood of Philadelphia. He has been a widely respected reporter in the nation's capital for more than 15 years, and has been honored with the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism, the Los Angeles Press Club's Presidents Award for Impact on Media, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society's "Tex" McCrary Award for Excellence in Journalism and the White House Correspondents Association’s Merriman Smith Award.
Prior to joining CNN in 2013, Tapper worked for nine years at ABC News, visiting Afghanistan, covering the war in Iraq from Baghdad, and spending time in New Orleans to cover the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the levee system. In 2008, he served as a lead political reporter for the coverage of the presidential election. He played a key role in ABC News' Emmy-winning coverage of the 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama, and its Murrow Award-winning coverage of the death of Osama bin Laden.
Tapper, who has also written four books, joins past Lew Klein Excellence in the Media recipients including Tina Fey, Robin Roberts, Charles Barkley, Dean Baquet, Anderson Cooper, Whoopi Goldberg and Wolf Blitzer.
“Jake Tapper represents so many of the values we strive to impart to our students,” said David Boardman, dean of the Klein College. “In addition to his keen political insight, he is known for courageous reporting and straightforward truth-telling.”
In addition to receiving the award at the ceremony, Tapper will also hold a separate conversation with Temple University students.
The Lew Klein Alumni in the Media Awards ceremony will also honor the professional achievements of six alumni working in the media and communication industries. This year’s Alumni in the Media honorees are:
Julie K. Brown, KLN ‘87, investigative journalist, Miami Herald
Murray Dubin, KLN ‘69, author and retired journalist, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Mel Greenberg, KLN ’69, "the guru" of women's basketball, retired sports journalist, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Michelle Rice, KLN ‘88, general manager, TV One
John Zissimos, KLN ‘88, vice president of brand, creative and media, Google
Additionally, the Rising Star Award will be given this year to Kyle Hall, KLN ‘08, photographer and editor, CBS Philadelphia.
Boardman said this year’s honorees are among some of the college’s most accomplished alumni. Brown, a 1987 journalism graduate, has garnered particular attention recently for her work at the Miami Herald covering sex-trafficking allegations against financier Jeffrey Epstein. Many credit her work for his recent arrest.
“After her series was published, I was not at all surprised to learn that this important story had been researched and told by a Klein College graduate,” Boardman said. “Julie has the tenacity and drive that distinguish Temple students.”
Named in honor of the late broadcasting pioneer Lew Klein, the Alumni in the Media Awards pay tribute to both Klein’s influential career and to his 67 years of teaching at Temple. Klein died at 91 years old in June, two years after the college was renamed in his honor, recognizing his career in television and decades of teaching service to the university.
Boardman said he is grateful that Klein was able to personally participate in this year’s honoree selection.
“It will be difficult to hand out these awards without Lew,” he said. “But I know he would have been so proud of the people receiving them.”
Proceeds from the event directly benefit the Lew Klein Scholarship Fund, which provides stipends to help defray tuition costs, encouraging students to pursue off-campus learning and internship opportunities.
For more information: lewkleinawards.com