NBC News Anchor Lester Holt to accept 2021 National Press Club Fourth Estate Award at October 20 Gala

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Aug 04, 2021, 09:00 ET

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NBC News' Lester Holt, whose seasoned career in journalism for over four decades and his esteemed role as anchor of NBC Nightly News, which earned him the title of most-trusted anchor in America, will receive the National Press Club's Fourth Estate Award, at a Press Club gala in his honor on Oct. 20, 2021 in Washington, D.C. Holt is the 49^th recipient of the award which recognizes journalists who have made significant contributions to the field.

NBC News Anchor Lester Holt to accept 2021 National Press Club Fourth Estate Award at October 20 Gala

"Lester Holt is the perfect person to receive this honor at this time," said National Press Club President Lisa Matthews. "Over the past year plus we have all developed a deeper and more direct connection to broadcast news which told us about our own health and the health of our nation in ways we previously could only have imagined. Every evening Lester was there to help guide us through. He remains a reassuring voice in the stormy seas of the COVID pandemic. It is no wonder he leads one of the most-watched programs in all of television."

The Fourth Estate is the top honor bestowed on a journalist by the National Press Club Board of Governors. Previous winners included: Dean Baquet, Marty Baron, Gwen Ifill, Andrea Mitchell, Tom Brokaw and Walter Cronkite. The Gala dinner is a fundraiser for the Club's nonprofit affiliate, the National Press Club Journalism Institute, which advocates for press freedom worldwide, equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire civic engagement, and provides scholarships to aspiring journalists.

Lester Holt is an award-winning journalist at NBC News. He serves as anchor and managing editor of "NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt," the network's flagship broadcast, as well as the anchor of "Dateline NBC." Holt also leads NBC News' special reports, breaking news and primetime news coverage.

Holt was named "NBC Nightly News" anchor in June 2015 after eight years as anchor of "NBC Nightly News" weekend editions and 12 years as co-anchor of "Weekend TODAY." In addition, Holt has served as principal anchor of "Dateline NBC" since September 2011, and now also anchors "Nightly News Kids Edition", a digital award-winning newscast aimed to inform and educate children, which he launched at the start of the pandemic in 2020.

Known for his outstanding work in the field, as well as reporting and anchoring breaking news events across the globe, Holt has spent the past four decades in journalism. Most recently, he has been in Tokyo to cover the 2020 Olympic Games as the world came together for the first time since the global pandemic. Also, this year, Holt traveled to Geneva for President Biden and Russian President Putin's in-person summit. Previously this year, he interviewed Vice President Kamala Harris in Guatemala in one of her most significant interviews since she took office and he anchored live from Surfside, Florida, following the deadly condo collapse.

Last year, Holt anchored NBC's coverage of the 2020 presidential election, including Election Night and the days following, the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, and the presidential debate and vice presidential debate. Holt also conducted the first interview with President Biden following the election. In 2016, Holt was also selected to moderate the first presidential debate, which continues to hold the record as the most-watched debate in American history.

Before becoming co-anchor of "Weekend TODAY" in 2003, Holt anchored MSNBC's "Lester Holt Live" and served as a primary anchor for MSNBC's coverage of major news events, including Operation Iraqi Freedom and the war in Afghanistan, as well as coverage of Decision 2000. Holt came to MSNBC after 14 years at WBBM-TV in Chicago. He began his television journalism career as a reporter at WCBS-TV in New York in 1981.

Holt has been recognized with numerous honors, including multiple Emmy Awards and a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism award. In 2021, he was honored with the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement award. In 2019, he was honored with the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism and in 2017, he received the Quinnipiac University's Fred Friendly First Amendment Award. In 2016, Holt was featured on TIME's "100 Most Influential People" list and was named "Journalist of the Year" by the National Association of Black Journalists.

The evening will also honor the winners of the John Aubuchon Press Freedom awards and the winner of the Neil and Susan Sheehan award for investigative journalism.

For more information on sponsorship opportunities please contact Julie Moos, Executive Director of the National Press Club Journalism Institute at [email protected]. Tickets can be purchased here.

About the National Press Club

Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. The Club has 3,000 members representing nearly every major journalism organization and is a leading voice for press freedom in the United States and around the world.

About the National Press Club Journalism Institute

The National Press Club Journalism Institute, the Club's nonprofit affiliate, promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press and equips journalists with the skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire civic engagement.

PRESS CONTACT: Bill McCarren, [email protected], (202) 662-7534

SOURCE National Press Club