2023 RTCA Award Winners
The Radio-Television Correspondents’ Association Executive Committee is thrilled to announce the winners of this year’s awards. These extraordinary journalists will be honored at the RTCA’s annual dinner on October 25, 2023 at the Anthem in Washington, D.C.
We thank the panel of judges for their time and consideration of each award and look forward to honoring these deserving award winners at the RTCA Dinner on Wednesday, October 25th and the Anthem in Washington, D.C.
Joan Shorenstein Barone Award: NBC News’ Frank Thorp V, Sarah Mimms and contributors
The Joan Shorenstein Barone Award honors the memory of the late former executive producer of CBS’ “Face the Nation” and is awarded for excellence in coverage of Capitol Hill.
This year’ winner is NBC News’ Frank Thorp V and Sarah Mimms with contributions from Kyle Stewart, Katie Santaliz and Julie Tsirkin for “Faces of the Investigation: How the House Jan. 6 Committee’s Final Report Came to Be.”
David Bloom Award: CNN
The David Bloom Award honors the memory of the late NBC News Correspondent and is awarded for excellence in enterprise reporting.
This year’s winner is a team of CNN that includes Matthew Chance, Clarissa Ward, Alex Marquardt, Nick Paton Walsh, Michael Holmes, Ben Wedeman, Fred Pleitgen, Nic Robertson, Phil Black, Nima Elbagir, Scott McLean, Sam Kiley, Ivan Watson, Melissa Bell, Atika Shubert, Salma Abdelaziz, Isa Soares, Jason Carroll, Ed Lavandera, Gustavo Valdes, Rafael Romo, Matt Rivers, Miguel Marquez, Randi Kaye, Bianna Golodryga, Sara Sidner, Salma Abdelaziz, Kyung Lah, Ed Lavandera, Erica Hill, Natasha Bertrand and anchors Erin Burnett, Jim Sciutto, Christiane Amanpour, John Vause, John Berman, Jake Tapper, Brianna Keilar, Dana Bash, Anderson Cooper, Isa Soares and Hala Gorani.
CNN’s team of correspondents, anchors and producers spent weeks on the ground covering the build-up of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and breaking news coverage of the first day of the invasion, including bringing viewers live footage from Belgorod, Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odessa.
Jerry Thompson Memorial Award: John Bullard of NBC News
The Jerry Thompson Memorial Award was established by the RTCA Executive Committee in 2012 to honor the late CNN photojournalist and his 25 years of excellence.
Winners are selfless, willing teachers and mentors who consistently reach above and beyond expectations and, like Jerry, are a friend to all.
This year’s honoree is John Bullard of NBC News.
Career Achievement Award for Distinguished Reporting on Congress: Giaco Riggs of NBC News.
The Executive Committee of the Radio-Television Correspondents’ Association is thrilled to announce that Giaco Riggs of NBC News will be awarded the Career Achievement Award at the upcoming RTCA Dinner on October 25th at the Anthem.
NBC News Photojournalist Giaco Riggs is a Capitol Hill institution. From his perch in the Russell Rotunda, Giaco has held court for more than a decade on behalf of NBC News, working with correspondents, producers, reporters, press aides, chiefs of staff and of course countless lawmakers. There are very few members of the Senate that are not on a first name basis with Giaco, who greets them each with a warm smile while helping them prepare for their live interviews. While Giaco is beloved on the NBC team, he makes a point to support, help and mentor journalists from every organization who work at the Capitol.
Giaco’s career in journalism spans more than 40 years. A Washington, D.C. native, he attended Virginia Union University in Richmond, a Historically Black College and University. He immediately launched a career in story telling working for small news outlets like the Potomac News Service and the Broadcast News Service. He eventually went national, landing a job at CNN. That job took him around the world. He covered multiple White Houses starting with the Reagan Administration, traveled to Afghanistan to cover the historic meeting between Hamid Karzai and President George W. Bush after 9/11 and was in Germany to see the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Giaco’s proudest achievement is his loving family. He has been married for 34 years. He and his wife have two children, and he has a grandson whom he adores and of whom every U.S. Senator has seen a picture.