Eric Shanks, Wolf Blitzer, Valari Dobson Staab Named Giants of Broadcasting

Inductees into the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation (LABF) Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts group this year include Eric Shanks, Wolf Blitzer and Valari Dobson Staab. The inductees will be celebrated at a luncheon at Gotham Hall in New York Tuesday, November 14.

Shanks is CEO and executive producer of Fox Sports. Blitzer is the anchor on CNN program The Situation Room. Staab is the chairman of NBCUniversal Local.

Other inductees are Juju Chang, co-anchor of Nightline on ABC; Caroline Beasley, CEO of Beasley Media Group; David E. Kennedy, co-founder and managing director, Aspire Ventures LLC; and Nina Totenberg, legal affairs correspondent at NPR.

Additional honorees will be announced.

“This event celebrates the ‘best of the very best’,” said LABF Co-Chairs Heidi Raphael and Jack Goodman. “We are absolutely thrilled to pay tribute to and recognize these outstanding individuals for their many trailblazing contributions on behalf of the media industry and American culture.”

LABF has honored more than 200 leaders in broadcasting since the event's inception in 2003. Net proceeds from the luncheon will support the preservation and expansion of the Library of American Broadcasting collection, which is curated at the University of Maryland.

The LABF is a nonprofit organization “dedicated to preserving the past, reflecting the present and informing the future,” in its own words.

The International Radio & Television Society Foundation (IRTS) produces the event.

Last year’s event saw Sean McManus, chairman of CBS Sports; Deb McDermott, CEO of Standard Media Group; and Adam Symson, president and CEO of E.W. Scripps inducted, among other media luminaries. 

Juju Chang has hosted the annual event for years.