Broadcaster of the Year Award Presented to Brenda Blackmon

Four-time Emmy Award-winning My9 News anchor Brenda Blackmon was presented with the 2010 Allen B. DuMont Broadcaster of the Year Award at Montclair State University’s DuMont Television Center on October 8. The Broadcaster of the Year Award is presented to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the field of broadcasting.

Blackmon is co-anchor of My9 News for WWOR-TV’s 11:00 pm newscast. A veteran of the industry, Blackmon has covered everything from KuKluxKlan rallies and Presidential Inaugurations, to the funeral of Pope John Paul II and the events of 9/11. In 2010, she won her fourth Emmy Award for Best Single Newscast and has been nominated for 15 additional Emmy Awards. She is also the recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award for Broadcast Excellence and has won more than a dozen Associated Press Awards.

Following an interview with Assistant Professor Marc Rosenweig for a special edition of the Department of Broadcasting’s weekly show, Carpe Diem, Blackmon spoke to a standing-room-only master class of broadcasting students. She talked about her four jobs—being a mother, an anchor at My9 News, director of The Kelly Fund for Lupus, Inc., and a teacher at Fairleigh Dickinson University—then took questions from the audience.

Answering questions such as “What was the toughest decision you had to make?” and “who did you look up to early in your career?” Blackmon shared her experience and advice with the audience. To a question about the impact of the Internet on television news, she said, “I love the challenge because it makes us do things differently; it makes us do things out of the box…it opens up a whole new world of interest and involvement.”

Established in 1985, the Broadcaster of the Year Award has honored noted individuals in the field including Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, Roz Abrams, formerly of Eyewitness News, Bob McGrath of Sesame Street, and Inside Edition anchor Deborah Norville. The selection of candidates is based on recommendations by faculty and staff of the Department of Broadcasting and the DuMont Television Center at Montclair State University.

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