ASU’s Cronkite School Rescinds Charlie Rose’s 2015 Award for Excellence in Journalism
The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University has announced that they will revoke their titular honorific for Charlie Rose in light of his sexual harassment scandal.
The school released a statement today where they acknowledged that they have never revoked the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism for anyone since its inception. However, officials have discussed the matter, and they decided to pull Rose’s honorific away.
Per Dean Christopher Callahan:
We give the award each year based on the knowledge we have of a recipient at that time. When new information about a recipient surfaces, the question we ask is not whether the award would be given again with a new set of facts, but whether the transgressions are so egregious that they demand nothing less than a reversal of history.
I believe Mr. Rose’s actions of sexual misconduct reported by The Washington Post and other media outlets, which are largely unrefuted, rise to that level. The damage caused by Mr. Rose’s actions extends far beyond the news organizations for which he worked. The actions victimized young women much like those who make up the overwhelming majority of Cronkite students – young women who deserve to enter workplaces that reward them for their hard work, intelligence and creativity and where they do not have to fear for their safety or dignity. In rescinding this award, we hope to send an unequivocal message that what Mr. Rose did is unacceptable, and that such behavior – far too common in not just media companies but many organizations – must stop.
Rose’s downfall began when multiple women spoke out and offered numerous claims about his inappropriate sexual behavior. The longtime news veteran was fired from CBS and PBS over the scandal, and one recent report suggested that Rose screwed over anchor Josh Elliott when he seemed like a possible replacement for him.
[Image via screengrab]
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