Barbara Walters, one of the media world’s most preeminent on-air interviewers and talk show hosts, was presented with a Bennett recognition award on May 12, 2008, from the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate School of Journalism. The Bennett recognition award "Eternal Spirit" was presented to Walters by CUNY as a special Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of her significant accomplishments in journalism. The recognition award was presented as part of CUNY’s second annual Awards for Excellence in Journalism awards dinner, held May 12, 2009 at the New York Times Building in New York City.
The unique award was presented to Walters by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (both shown in photo above). Event sponsors included Bloomberg L.P., Dow Jones & Co., The Hearst Corporation, The McGraw-Hill Companies, News Corporation, The New York Observer, The New York Times, and Time, Inc. This is the second Bennett recognition award used for CUNY J-School’s Lifetime Achievement Award – the first was presented to Tom Brokaw in May 2008. A brief video of clip of the recognition awards presentation can be view by clicking the following link: "Barbara Walters Receives Bennett Recognition Award".