Simpson receiving RTDNF’s Oldfield Award

Carole Simpson, senior leader-in-residence of the Journalism Department and former ABC News anchor, has been honored with the 2013 Barney Oldfield Distinguished Service Award by the Radio Television Digital News Foundation (RTDNF).

The award will be presented next month at the 2013 Excellence in Journalism conference in Anaheim, California.

It is named after retired U.S. Air Force Col. Barney Oldfield, a former newspaper reporter who served as an aide to military leaders and later as a Hollywood publicist. Working with what was then the Radio Television News Directors Association, he established a scholarship program that grew into today’s RTDNF.

Simpson, a former member of the RTDNF, was recognized for establishing the Carole Simpson Scholarship to encourage and help minority students overcome hurdles along their career paths in the television and radio industries.

“When we served on the Foundation Board, Barney and I were members of the mutual admiration society,” Simpson said. “I so respected his contributions and humanity. Barney was the real deal.”

Simpson retired from ABC News in 2006 to work for Emerson. In a career of notable firsts, Simpson became the first woman and African American to moderate a presidential debate in 1992. She is completing a book on her 40 years as a pioneering African American woman in the field of journalism. In 1996, Simpson received the Leonard Zeidenberg First Amendment Award in recognition of her work to protect First Amendment freedoms.

“We are delighted to recognize Carole Simpson for her dedication to the Foundation,” said Mike Cavender, executive director of RTDNF. “Her encouragement and support of journalism students fosters a promising future for our profession.”