CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Filmmaker Barbara Kopple to Receive News and Doc Emmys 2023 Lifetime Achievement Honors

Michael Schneider
·3 min read
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CNN news anchor Wolf Blitzer and Oscar-winning director/producer Barbara Kopple are this year’s recipients of the 44th annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards lifetime achievement honors, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences was set to announce on Tuesday. The News & Doc Emmys take place over two days next month in New York: Blitzer will receive his honor at the news ceremony on Wednesday, Sept. 27, and Kopple’s Emmy will be presented at the documentary ceremony on Thursday, September 28. Both ceremonies will take place at the Palladium Times Square.

“Wolf Blitzer and Barbara Kopple each continue to enjoy successful careers and have made a deep impact in the world of television journalism and documentaries,” said Adam Sharp, President and CEO, NATAS . “Through their achievements, they have left indelible marks of distinction on the industry.”

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Blitzer, a 33-year veteran of CNN, currently anchors “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” on the news cabler. Among his many awards over the years, Blitzer received the American News Women’s Club Excellence in Journalism Award in 2019. In March 2014, the National Press Foundation awarded him the Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism. In 2013, he was recognized as the eighth recipient of the Urbino Press Award from the Italian Embassy for his excellence in journalism. In 2011, Blitzer received the distinguished Leonard Zeidenberg First Amendment Award from The Radio & Television Digital News Foundation and The Panetta Institute for Public Policy’s Jefferson-Lincoln Award.

Blitzer said he was “truly honored to receive this esteemed award from the Academy. When Ted Turner hired me, he told me, ‘Wolf, at CNN, the news comes first’ and that has been my guiding light these 33 years and continues to be my advice to young journalists today. I consider myself incredibly fortunate that I still get up every morning and look forward to going to work and reporting the news with some of the smartest people I know. This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of so many talented journalists whom I have worked with, been mentored by, and learned from during my career.”

As for Kopple, the filmmaker is a seven-time Emmy nominee and two-time Academy Award winner; she is the only woman to have twice won an Oscar in the best documentary category, for “Harlan County USA” and “American Dream.” Kopple most recently completed the documentary “Gumbo Coalition,” which follows Civil Rights leaders Marc Morial and Janet Murguia. She has also directed and produced films including “Desert One,” “New Homeland,” “A Murder In Mansfield,” “This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous,” “Miss Sharon Jones!,” “Hot Type: 150 Years of The Nation,” “Running from Crazy,” “Woodstock: Now and Then,” “Wild Man Blues, “Shut Up and Sing” and “A Conversation with Gregory Peck.”

“ I am deeply moved and honored to receive this recognition,” Kopple said. “What it means to me is that the many people whose lives I was lucky enough to film will not be forgotten. They are a treasure to us all. There will be more to come.”

Last year, PBS NewsHour anchor and managing editor Judy Woodruff and filmmaker/narrator Sir David Attenborough received lifetime achievement honors at the News & Documentary Emmys.

The 44th News & Documentary Emmy Awards will be streamed live on NATAS’ Emmys viewing platform at watch.theemmys.tv and via The Emmys apps.

The 44th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards were decided from more than 2,300 submissions that originally premiered in 2022, and was judged by a pool of over 1,000 peer professionals.

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