The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWMF) is pleased to announce that Jane Pauley, journalist, author and anchor of ‘CBS Sunday Morning,’ will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 42nd Annual Gracie Awards Luncheon. Award-winning “CBS Sunday Morning” journalist Martha Teichner will present Pauley with the award. Dylan Dreyer, weather anchor of NBC News’ “Weekend TODAY” and regular co-host for TODAY, will serve as host. This annual event, which honors the accomplishments of local and student women in media and entertainment, will take place on June 27, 2017 at Cipriani on 42nd in New York City.
“The Gracie Awards are the industry’s chance to pause and recognize women and men who use their voice and creativity to bring stories to life, every day,” said Sarah Foss, AWMF Chair and Chief Product Officer, Advertising Management Systems, for Imagine Communications. “Speaking personally, Jane Pauley, her journalist acumen and strong representation of women as valid voices, was the reason that I joined the media industry. I know that her timeless work has inspired legions of women and men for decades and continues to move her viewers today.”
Pauley is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author. She was named anchor of ‘CBS Sunday Morning” in September 2016. She joined the program in 2014 as a contributor and has delivered newsmaking interviews including Condoleezza Rice, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and the only TV interview with David Letterman about his retirement from late night television. She’s also reported about a group of educators who lived through the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., now fighting to change gun control laws and an 11-year-old boy who became the voice of reason following the Ferguson, Mo. shooting. She began her network television career in 1976 as a co-host of NBC’s “Today” show. She spent 13 years on the morning broadcast, and a decade as the anchor of “Dateline NBC,” starting in 1992. She was the host of the syndicated daytime series, “The Jane Pauley Show” in 2004.
Jane Pauley as she looked when she was an anchor on WISH TV news in Indianapolis.
“I have so much to be grateful for and so many to thank,” Pauley said. “A Lifetime Achievement Award recalls colleagues, partners and mentors, and in particular, all the women in our industry whose perseverance and tenacity opened the doors for my generation and everyone since.”
Gracies Luncheon host Dylan Dreyer joined “Weekend TODAY” in 2012 from WHDH-TV, the NBC affiliate in Boston, where she served as the weekday morning meteorologist on “Today in New England” since 2007. In 2008, she was named Boston’s Best Meteorologist by Improper Bostonian magazine. Throughout the years, Dreyer has reported live for NBC News from some of history’s worst storms.
“It is an honor to host this distinguished event,” said Dreyer. “The Gracies recognize top talent and quality in the industry, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”
Grammy-nominated songwriter Kara DioGuardi is slated to perform at the celebratory event. DioGuardi is one of the most successful contemporary songwriters in the world, with songs appearing on more than 160 million albums. A former judge on American Idol, the record EXECUTIVE and music publisher’s long list of credits include successes and collaborations with artists such as Pink, Katy Perry, Celine Dion, Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Carrie Underwood, and many more. The Alliance for Women in Media thanks Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI®) for connecting The Gracies with empowering female musicians like Kara DioGuardi.
Said DioGuardi of the Gracies Luncheon, “It’s a privilege to perform in a room full of women and men who are committed to journalistic excellence and using their voices to inform and inspire the public.”
The Gracie Awards, presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation, acknowledge individual achievement and outstanding programming created by, for and about women in all facets of media. Celebrating more than 40 years, the Gracie Awards focus on women who are making positive change and who continue the discussion of what having a fulfilling career in media looks like.
National Gracie winners were recognized at the Gracies Gala, June 6, 2017 at The Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, California while local and student winners will be recognized at the Gracies Luncheon. A full list of winners can be found on the Alliance for Women in Media website.
For more information about the 2017 Gracies or to secure tickets, please visit www.allwomeninmedia.org/gracies.
