John Chancellor Award

The John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism, founded in 1995, is presented each year to a reporter with courage, character and integrity for cumulative professional accomplishments. The prize honors the legacy of pioneering television correspondent and longtime NBC News anchor John Chancellor. #ChancellorAward

Congratulations to Raney Aronson-Rath

Raney Aronson-Rath — 2024 John Chancellor Award Winner

Raney Aronson-Rath, editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE (PBS), is the recipient of the 2024 John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism.

As executive producer since 2015 at PBS’ flagship investigative journalism series, Raney Aronson-Rath oversees FRONTLINE’s acclaimed reporting, and directs the series’ editorial vision — executive producing more than 20 in-depth documentaries each year on critical issues facing the country and the world. Aronson-Rath’s accomplishments have earned her the industry’s highest praise. Steve Engelberg of ProPublica calls her “a journalist's journalist, devoted first and foremost to getting the story precisely right… (with) a singular talent for turning complex subjects into visually arresting, nuanced films.”

Aronson-Rath has expanded FRONTLINE’s reporting capacity, spearheaded an initiative to bolster local journalism in news deserts and guided FRONTLINE’s evolution from a longstanding televised documentary series to a timely, multi-platform news organization that is committed to uncovering vital stories and telling them in new ways.

“Congratulations to Raney Aronson-Rath, a J School graduate (‘95) and Board of Visitors Chair,” said Dean Jelani Cobb, a member of the Chancellor Board. “For over two decades, Raney has produced important and innovative programming for millions of FRONTLINE viewers. Today, the PBS series is more relevant and necessary than ever thanks to her leadership.”

Read the full announcement here.

How to Enter

Nominations for the 2025 John Chancellor Award are open as of March 25, 2025.

To be entered for consideration, journalists must be nominated. The nominator will need to fill out the Chancellor Application form. NOTE: This link will not access the form until March 25.

For print nominations: a pdf file with legible pages of the nomination material is recommended.

For audio or video nominations: a list of working permanent links to programming is recommended.

Required supporting materials:

A nominating letter by someone other than the journalist that includes a brief summary of journalistic accomplishments. The Chancellor Board looks for sustained journalistic accomplishments over time, where the journalist’s reporting as a whole is greater than any single story he or she may have covered. Please explain the impact of the reporting.
Nominations may have up to three letters of support.
Resumé or CV, including any major awards received.
Provide 5-10 examples of the person's best work:

Newspaper/Magazine/Online Print (Written word) Nominee: 5-10 significant newspaper or magazine stories by the nominee. Please link to stories or include PDFs. If sending PDFs please include articles in the original layout, if possible. Photocopies of PDFs must be easy to read.

Audio or Video Nominee: 5-10 significant audio or video stories by the nominee. Audio or video stories should be submitted just as they appeared, without reediting. Contact the Chancellor Award office for coverage of breaking news stories, if applicable. Please provide links to stories.

This award is intended for a journalist whose principal audience is in the U.S. If the original reporting is in a language other than English, transcripts or subtitles in English must be provided.

About

The recipient of the $25,000 John Chancellor Award is selected each year by a distinguished panel of journalists who look across the media landscape to identify a reporter who may not be widely known by the public but who is highly respected within the profession for the caliber of his or her work.

The award was established in 1995 by Ira A. Lipman, founder of Guardsmark, LLC, one of the world's largest security service firms. Lipman provided a gift to Columbia University to support the John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism and to fund scholarships at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. The Chancellor Scholarships provide significant financial aid to students who have the leadership qualities exemplified by John Chancellor.

Ira Lipman became a lifelong friend of John Chancellor after the two met in Little Rock, AR, in 1957. Chancellor, the NBC News correspondent in Little Rock, was reporting on the desegregation struggle at Central High School, and Lipman became Chancellor’s trusted source. Shining a national spotlight on this gripping regional story, the quality of Chancellor’s informed and insightful reporting propelled him to national attention. He became an anchor of NBC’s Today program and an anchor and commentator for NBC Nightly News. Chancellor is best remembered for the depth of his reporting and his rare personal grace and civility. Lipman subsequently founded Guardsmark, LLC.

The Chancellor Scholarships were awarded for the first time in August 2005, and are currently providing financial assistance for M.S. students. The criteria for scholarship assistance are financial need, academic achievement and commitment to leadership in print or broadcast journalism.

Ira Lipman passed away on September 16, 2019, at his home in New York City.

Past Winners

Year: 2022
Honoree: Masha Gessen
Title: Staff Writer
Organization: The New Yorker
Notable Work: Reaching the Critical Masses; The Day After Technology; Autocracy Rules for Survival; Collecting Bodies in Bucha; The Russians Fleeing Putin’s Wartime Crackdown

Year: 2021
Honoree: Tony Bartelme
Title: Senior Projects Reporter
Organization: The Post and Courier
Notable Work: The Greenland Connection; Rising Waters; Uncovered; Stickin’ with The Pig; Every Other Breath.

Year: 2020
Honoree: Donald G. McNeil Jr.
Title: Science and public health reporter
Organization: The New York Times
Notable Work: MEDICINE MERCHANTS: Patents and Patients; In India, a Quest to Ease the Pain of Dying; Colombia Is Hit Hard by Zika, but Not by Microcephaly; Learning to Live with the Coronavirus; The Coronavirus in America: The Year Ahead.

Year: 2019
Honoree: Ginger Thompson
Title: Senior Reporter
Organization: ProPublica
Notable Work: Listen to Children Who’ve Just Been Separated From Their Parents at the Border; How the U.S. Triggered a Massacre in Mexico; A Drug Family in the Winner’s Circle; After Losing Freedom, Some Immigrants Face Loss of Custody of Their Children; Fear and Death Ensnare U.N.’s Soldiers in Haiti; Fatal Secrets in Honduras.

Year: 2018
Honoree: Nikole Hannah-Jones
Title: Staff Writer
Organization: The New York Times Magazine
Notable Work: The Resegregation of Jefferson County; Choosing a School for My Daughter in a Segregated City; A Prescription for More Black Doctors; The Problem We All Live With; Living Apart; Segregation Now.

Year
Honoree
Title
Organization
Notable Work

Year: 2017
Honoree: Dan Balz
Title: Chief correspondent
Organization: The Washington Post
Notable Work: There are three branches of government, and two are in distress; Donald Trump, America's first independent president; Why does Hillary Rodham Clinton want to be president?; Hard choices and challenges follow triumph; Nation braces for a long count; In week two, velocity of allegations slows and a Clinton survival strategy emerges.

Year: 2016
Honoree: Gwen Ifill
Title: Co-anchor and managing editor of PBS NewsHour and moderator and managing editor of Washington Week with Gwen Ifill
Organization: PBS
Notable Work: PBS NewsHour Democratic Debate; America After Charleston; Political Divide on Immigration Reform Looms Over Families; Obama: Diplomatic Solution to Syria ‘Overwhelmingly My Preference'; March on Washington 50th Anniversary.

Year
Honoree
Title
Organization
Notable Work

Year: 2015
Honoree: Alissa J. Rubin
Title: Paris bureau chief
Organization: The New York Times
Notable Work: Afghan Policewomen Struggle Against Culture; On a Helicopter, Going Down: Inside a Lethal Crash in Iraq; Afghan Rape Case Turns Focus on Local Police; How Baida Wanted to Die; In a Cold Room, Memories of a Life of Flowers.

Year
Honoree
Title
Organization
Notable Work

Year: 2014
Honoree: Martin Smith
Title: Writer, producer, correspondent
Organization: FRONTLINE, RAIN Media
Notable Work: Money, Power & Wall Street; Obama’s War; Heat; Return of the Taliban; The Storm; Truth, War & Consequences.

Year
Honoree
Title
Organization
Notable Work

Year: 2013
Honoree: Richard Engel
Title: Chief foreign correspondent
Organization: NBC News
Notable Work: Inside North Korea; Arab Spring - Egypt; War Zone Diary, "I can't keep this up much longer"; Syrian refugees look to America for help; Interview with President George W. Bush (2008); Richard Engel rides with combat troops leaving Iraq.

Year
Honoree
Title
Organization
Notable Work

Year: 2012
Honoree: Maria Hinojosa
Title: News anchor and reporter
Organization: PBS, NPR and CNN
Notable Work: America By the Numbers; Frontline, Lost In Detention; The Bronx River; Who's Helping Our Wounded Vets?

Year
Honoree
Title
Organization
Notable Work

Year: 2011
Honoree: David Evans
Title: Senior writer
Organization: Bloomberg Markets
Notable Work: Duping the Families of Fallen Soldiers; The Hidden Pension Fiasco; The Ratings Charade; How Test Companies Fail Your Kids; Big Pharma’s Shameful Secret.

Year
Honoree
Title
Organization
Notable Work

Year: 2010
Honoree: Robert Siegel
Title: Host
Organization: NPR’s All Things Considered
Notable Work: Michael Chertoff Defends Rescue Efforts in New Orleans; Troy & Tovan; Childhood on Trial; Covering the Chengdu Earthquake.

Year: 2009
Honoree: Ken Armstrong
Title: Investigative reporter
Organization: The Seattle Times
Notable Work: Failure of the Death Penalty in Illinois; Trial & Error; Victory and Ruins; School District Ignored Warnings, then Silenced Girls Fondled by Teacher.

Year: 2008
Honoree: Jane Mayer
Title: Staff Writer
Organization: The New Yorker
Notable Work

Year: 2008
Honoree: Andrew C. Revkin
Title: Science Correspondent
Organization: The New York TImes
Notable Work

Year: 2007
Honoree: Ofra Bikel
Title: Producer
Organization: FRONTLINE
Notable Work: The Case for Innocence; An Ordinary Crime; The O.J. Verdict; Requiem for Frank Lee Smith; Saving Elian; The Unexpected Candidate.

Year: 2006
Honoree: Henry Weinstein
Title: Reporter
Organization: Los Angeles Times
Notable Work: Democracy Now; Bay Area Indy Media; TruthDig; LA Observed; Take Back the Times; CJR Daily ‘Henry Weinstein on What Great Journalism Can and Cannot Do.

Year: 2005
Honoree: Jerry Mitchell
Title: Investigative Reporter
Organization: The Clarion-Ledger
Notable Work: Jerry Mitchell Interview on NPR’s Fresh Air

Year: 2004
Honoree: Linda Greenhouse
Title: Reporter
Organization: The New York Times
Notable Work

Year: 2003
Honoree: Mary McGrory
Title: Reporter
Organization: Washington Post
Notable Work

Year: 2002
Honoree: Jim Wooten
Title: Senior Correspondent
Organization: ABC News
Notable Work

Year: 2000
Honoree: John Herbers
Title: Washington correspondent (Ret.)
Organization: The New York Times
Notable Work

Year: 2000
Honoree: Claude Sitton
Title: Editor (Ret.)
Organization: The News & Observer
Notable Work

Year: 1999
Honoree: Paul Duke
Title: Moderator (Ret.), “Washington Week in Review”
Organization: PBS
Notable Work

Year: 1998
Honoree: John Kifner
Title: Senior foreign correspondent
Organization: The New York Times
Notable Work

Year: 1997
Honoree: Wilson F. “Bill” Minor
Title: Correspondent
Organization: The Times-Picayune
Notable Work

Year
Honoree
Title
Organization
Notable Work

Selection Committee

Mary Chancellor, Chancellor Family

Jelani Cobb, Dean and Henry Luce Professor of Journalism, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

Cheryl Gould, Former Senior Vice President, NBC News

Robe Imbriano, Ira A. Lipman Associate Professor of Journalism; Director, Ira. A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights

Hank Klibanoff, Director of the Journalism Program, James M. Cox Jr. Professor, Emory University

Josh Lipman, Principal, Lift Insight and Capital Partners

Michele Norris, Opinion columnist, The Washington Post

Lynn Sherr, Former Correspondent, ABC News

Bill Wheatley, Former Executive Vice President, NBC News

Mark Whitaker, Former news executive, CNN, NBC News and Newsweek

Contact

[email protected]

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