Steve Kroft, a “60 Minutes” correspondent described as “a reporter’s reporter” for his well-written, hard-driving investigative pieces, accepted the Fred Friendly First Amendment Award May 21, 2007, from Quinnipiac’s School of Communications.

“60 Minutes” colleague and commentator Andy Rooney said, “You can throw anything at Steve and he can do it – he’s the perfect person for the job.”

Rooney joined a host of other broadcast and print journalists at the awards luncheon in the Metropolitan Club in New York City. “Face the Nation” moderator Bob Schieffer, “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl and Don Hewitt (former executive producer of “60 Minutes”), all former Fred Friendly Award recipients, attended, as did the show’s executive producer, Jeff Fager, and fellow correspondent Morley Safer.

Other media members who came to honor Kroft included author Gay Talese; anchors Jodi Applegate and Linda Schmidt (both Fox News 5), Sade Baderinwa (WABC News), Maurice DuBois (CBS News) and Chuck Scarborough (WNBC); as well as Charles Osgood of “CBS News Sunday Morning”; Diane Dimond  of Court TV; and journalist Rita Cosby.

Lou Adler, Fred Friendly professor of journalism at Quinnipiac, introduced Ruth Friendly, widow of the journalist for whom the award is named. She called Kroft a phenomenal writer and reporter who knows how to tell a story. Fred Friendly, former president of CBS News, was a professor and mentor of Kroft. They met when Kroft was pursuing his master’s in journalism at Columbia, where Friendly was a professor.

Ruth Friendly ribbed Kroft, commenting that he’s known as “a devil to work for–driven and tenacious. In that way, you remind me of my husband,” she said.

President John L. Lahey cited Kroft’s 10 Emmy Awards and three George Foster Peabody Awards and thanked him for the high journalistic standards he sets for himself and the example he sets for others who follow him into the field.

After accepting the award, Kroft addressed his media colleagues, remarking on how much the landscape of the industry has changed. “We have hundreds of TV channels and fewer and fewer owners. The line between journalism and entertainment is so blurred, it doesn’t even look like a line anymore. Fred Friendly saw the beginnings of it, but being here today made me wonder what Fred would think of the way things are going,” Kroft said.

He described Friendly as a huge personality and a strong voice on behalf of the public interest, a phrase “you hardly ever hear spoken anymore in the media world, certainly not as often as shareholder interests.”

The voices heard now, Kroft said, are corporate and more timid, caused by audience fragmentation and the loss of market share. “Journalism is in a state of transition, locked as always to the gate of our corporate proprietors, who are worried–with some justification–about their own viability and long-term survival.”

The newsman said that as much as those in the media prefer to believe otherwise, journalism exists to sell advertising. “It is really just a craft, tailoring facts and a story to fit the allotted amount of time or space to fit between the ads or keep the commercials from bumping together. But, it can do wonderful things if it’s practiced well, and it has proven many times that it can change the course of the country.”

He worries that the endangered product is original reporting. “It is the most expensive part of our business. It takes time, it takes talented reporters and editors, it takes commitment… things that are very difficult for corporate bookkeepers to evaluate. The economic structure that supported it for years is crumbling and the future is in flux.”

Richard Hanley, director of the graduate journalism program, was among the School of Communications professors and students who attended the luncheon. Hanley recalled one of Kroft’s pieces in which Kroft was grilling a gangster. “The guy told Kroft, ‘I used to like you.’ He was a fan before Kroft investigated him, and that shows the power you wield if people being investigated still respect you. ‘60 Minutes’ still shows good journalism of consequence …it’s good for the republic and good for business.”

• View a list past Fred Friendly First Amendment Award recipients.
• View Steve Kroft's acceptance speech (PDF)

Steve Kroft, “60 Minutes” correspondent.	Bob Schieffer, moderator of "Face the Nation" and former "CBS Evening News" anchor.
Andy Rooney, front, "60 Minutes" commentator, and colleague Morley Safer, "60 Minutes" correspondent.	Terry W. Goodwin '67, president of the Quinnipiac Board of Trustees.
Katie McLaughlin '00, left, associate producer for CNN.com, Rita Cosby, former MSNBC anchor, and Diane Dimond, of Court TV.	President John L. Lahey, left, Steve Kroft, Ruth Friendly, and Lou Adler, Fred Friendly professor of broadcast journalism
Maurice DuBois, left, CBS anchor, Linda Schmidt, anchor for Fox 5 New York, WNYW, Don Weinbach, vice president for development and alumni affairs, and Jodi Applegate, anchor for Fox 5 New York's "Good Day New York."	Paul Janensch, associate professor of journalism, and Kroft.
Lesley Stahl, "60 Minutes" correspondent, and Kroft	L to R: Rick Hancock, assistant dean of the School of Communcations, Dave Donnelly, dean of the School of Communications, Kroft, Mike Calia, director of the Ed McMahon Communcations Center, and Rich Hanley, director of graduate programs in the School of Communcations.
Jonathan Carlson '03, left, reporter for KTXL-TV in Sacramento, Cal., Dana Owen '07, Kroft, Friendly, Rocco Aloe '07, and Natalie Paterson '07.