The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) awarded Yamiche Alcindor with its 2020 “Journalist of the Year” honor.
The annual award recognizes a journalist who has accrued an esteemed body of work with remarkable breadth and relevance to the African diaspora. Alcindor is the White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour. She also contributes political content to NBC News and MSNBC. Her work has included presenting first person accounts from politicians, people suffering from COVID-19 and mothers of the movement.
The organization will present her with the “Journalist of the Year” award during a virtual ceremony on December 19. Hosts of the ceremony include Emmy Award-winning actress Lynn Whitfield, NAACP Image Award-winning actress Tichina Arnold, anchor of NBC News’ TODAY Craig Melvin, co-host of CBS This Morning: Saturday Michelle Miller, and Kenneth Moton, co-anchor of ABC World News Now and America This Morning.
Alcindor responded to the announcement of her award on Twitter. “Thanks so much @NABJ and @NewsHour I feel so honored to be the 2020 NABJ Journalist of the Year,” she wrote. She used the opportunity to honor her colleagues.
“So many journalists are doing amazing work amid this election, pandemic, and racial reckoning,” she continued. “I am blessed to be recognized among them.”
The former New York Times political reporter has been celebrated for her contributions to the national discourse by numerous organizations throughout her career. In 2013, she was first recognized by the National Association of Black Journalists when she earned the title of “Emerging Journalist of the Year.”
The International Women’s Media Foundation awarded Alcindor, who has Haitian roots, with the Gwen Ifill Award earlier this year. In 2017, she won an award during Syracuse University’s Toner Prize ceremony.
Simmons University presented her with the Ifill Next Generation Award and she was honored with the NextGen Leader Award by the Georgetown Entertainment & Media Alliance.
She also received the White House Correspondents’ Association’s Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage.