News: People

NBC News President Steve Capus to receive award at Annual Mid-Atlantic Emmy® Award

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) Mid-Atlantic Chapter announced  that NBC News President Steve Capus will receive the prestigious Board of Governors’ Award in September. Capus, who began his journalism career in Philadelphia more than 25 years ago, will be honored during the 30th Annual Mid-Atlantic Emmy® Awards at the Philadelphia Hilton Hotel located on City Avenue on Saturday, September 22, 2012. The prestigious award is bestowed by NATAS to recognize career longevity, lifetime achievements and significant contributions to the television industry.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to honor Steve Capus – a broadcasting legend who started his career here in Philadelphia,” said Brad Nau, President of the NATAS Mid-Atlantic Chapter and Senior Executive Producer of Special Projects at Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia. “Steve has worked tirelessly throughout his career and now runs one of the top news broadcasting organizations in the world. We are proud to recognize his many professional achievements this fall at the 30th Annual Mid-Atlantic Emmy® Awards.”

Capus was named president of NBC News in November 2005 and is responsible for all aspects of America's highest-rated and most-watched network news division, as well as MSNBC and MSNBC.com. Capus is also the arbiter of issues involving ethics, style, standards, safety and other matters that affect the Division's journalistic bearing. He serves as Director on the Boards of MSNBC.com, The Weather Channel, and The Newseum. He had served as senior vice president of NBC News since June 2005, and was the executive producer of "NBC Nightly News".

“It is humbling to be asked to come home to accept the Board of Governors’ Award,” said Capus, President of NBC News.

Capus began his journalism career in radio and print and worked at several stations and daily newspapers in the Philadelphia area. He worked at WCAU-TV (NBC10) in Philadelphia in 1986 and then joined KYW-TV in 1987 as a writer and producer. For two years, he was responsible for the overall day-to-day management and coordination of the correspondents, production staff and on-air production for the station. And in 1990, at the age of 26, Capus became an executive producer at KYW-TV (CBS3).

He graduated from Temple University in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. Capus has served as a member of Temple’s School of Communications and Theater Board of Visitors since 2008. He has also received numerous awards, including four Emmy Awards, eight Edward R. Murrow Awards, one Alfred I. duPont and six National Headliner Awards. In 2007, he earned the Ida B. Wells Award from the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), which is presented annually to a media executive who has demonstrated a commitment to diversifying the nations’ newsrooms and improving the coverage of people and communities of color.

Past recipients of the NATAS Board of Governors’ Award are: Pittsburgh broadcasting legend Patrice King-Brown; sportscaster Al Meltzer; children’s television icon Fred Rogers; Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown; legendary anchor John Facenda; TV Guide founder and philanthropist Walter Annenberg; sports broadcasting innovators NFL Films; former WHYY president Frederick “Rick” Breitenfeld, Jr.; regional TV pioneer Lewis Klein; CBS3 veteran reporter Trudy Haynes; Phillies announcer and Baseball Hall of Famer Harry Kalas; local broadcasting legend Gene Crane; Joe DeNardo, the Dean of Pittsburgh Weather; veteran Philadelphia newsman Larry Kane; Pittsburgh Steelers’ broadcasting legend Myron Cope; WCAU news veteran Herb Clarke; WCAU trailblazing anchor/reporter Edie Huggins; and Pittsburgh’s TV woman of firsts, Eleanor Schano.

FOX 29’s Mike Jerrick will host the 30th annual Mid-Atlantic Emmy® Awards on September 22, 2012. The awards event, which honors broadcasters for excellence in 70 news and programming categories, will include a cocktail hour and silent auction to benefit NATAS Scholarship programs, a sit-down dinner and the award presentations. For more information, please visit: www.natasmid-atlantic.org.

Mid-Atlantic NATAS is a non-profit, professional association with 650 members in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware representing more than 32 television stations, numerous cable companies and programmers, as well as independent producers, production facilities and educational institutions. Please visit the website, www.natasmid-atlantic.org, for information about membership benefits and programs.