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| ABC's Pierre Thomas |
GUEST BLOG—By Amy Cherry, RTDNA
News--ABC Senior
Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas received one of the Radio Television
Digital News Association’s (RTDNA) most prestigious awards at Excellence in
Journalism 2015 earlier this month. Thomas was awarded the 2015 John F. Hogan
Distinguished Service Award, which he dedicated to his mother.
“She always
believed in me and made me believe I could do anything,” said Thomas.
Longtime
friend Stan Nelson was there to see his accomplished friend receive the
accolade.
“It’s a
blessing, he’s a great man, he’s a great family man…and he loves his
profession,” said Nelson. “I think what
sets him aside from so many folks is his level of integrity.”
RTDNA Chair
Amy Tardif said Thomas was picked “because of numerous astounding investigative
stories that he has participated in and broken.”
The John F.
Hogan Award is named after the founder and first president of RTNDA. Thomas joins a long list of journalism
veterans who have received the John F. Hogan Away, including Walter Cronkite
and Frank Stanton.
“You have to
prove to uphold the excellence in journalism standards that the first president
of RTNDA set forth for all of the rest of us to follow, and Pierre signifies
that level of excellence,” Tardif said.
Prior to the
award ceremony, Thomas and this year's Paul White Award winner, CBS’s Lesley
Stahl, spent some time with journalists at an afternoon session, answering questions
and sharing words of wisdom.
Thomas’s
biggest scoop came in 2011 when he became one of the first journalists to know
that Osama bin Laden had been killed. He
explained how he got the story.
“I called a
source, and said, ‘You got Bin Laden.”
And the source asked, ‘How did you know that?’ Thomas made a few follow-up calls, and the
news was confirmed.
The
award-winning correspondent has also covered the September 11 terror attacks,
the Boston Marathon bombings, and the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
But it was the 9-11 attacks that remain engrained in his mind as the most
important story he’s ever covered. He
recalled a moment, several months after witnessing the carnage, where inside
the privacy of his home, he finally broke down in an uncontrollable wave of
emotions.
“I had not
allowed myself to grieve like many others had done,” he said in his award
reception speech. “So, we, those of us
in this room, we care. We care about
what we do.”
Thomas
started his career at “The Roanoke Times & World News” and quickly moved on
to work at the Washington Post in 1987 at the young age of 24. He joined ABC News in 2000 and reports for
various programs, including: “World News
Tonight,” “Good Morning America,” and “Nightline.”
Thomas told
a crowd that, during a typical week, he’s working on one to two long-range
pieces coupled with breaking news and beat coverage responsibilities.
Journalism
has changed dramatically since Thomas began his career decades ago. “Call me
old-fashioned, but I truly believe that our profession is important, is
honorable, and can contribute to the public good--powerfully when unleashed,”
he said.
Thomas
admitted he’s dealing with multiple mobile and broadcast platforms now, but the
basics of good journalism shouldn’t change. “I’m not tweeting crap until I’m
comfortable that it’s the same caliber of reporting that I would put on
television and online,” said Thomas.
“We need to
develop sources; we need to work those sources, and we need to be sure what
we’re reporting we believe as best we can that it is accurate,” he said. “No matter what the platform is, that’s what
you have to do. We’re in a new age, but
you still have to use old school tactics…if you want to remain viable.”
The session
ended with Thomas and Stahl distilling advice for young, aspiring journalists.
“You will
have in your mind that one story will make your career, and that’s not
true. One story can destroy your career,
[but] your career will be made by the body of your work [and] the consistency
of your work,” he said.
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