JANE PAULEY NAMED 2007 CRONKITE AWARD WINNER

Jane Pauley, the long-time popular anchor of NBC's "Today" show and founding co-host of "Dateline NBC," will be this year's recipient of the Walter Aconite award for Excellence in Journalism. Pauley will receive the award, given annually by ASU's Walter Cronkites School of Journalism and Mass Communication, at a luncheon ceremony Nov. 12 at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix.

She is the 25th recipient of the award. Past winners include television executive Ted Turner; publishers Katharine Graham, Otia Chandler and Malcolm Forbes; TV journalists Tom Brokaw, Bill Moyers and Bernard Shaw; and newspaper journalists Bob Woodward, Helen Thomas and George Will.

"What an honor to receive an award that bears the name Walter Cronkite," Pauley said. "When I was just starting out in broadcast journalism, that name - more than any other - was synonymous with a passion for the truth, authoritative reporting and bedrock integrity. It still is."