Judy Woodruff received the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism today during a ceremony in downtown Phoenix. The annual award is given to a prominent journalist who embodies the integrity and impeccable professionalism of Cronkite himself. This year’s award was given to Woodruff and her late PBS NewsHour co-anchor Gwen Ifill. Ifill’s brother accepted the award on her behalf.

Woodruff gave an inspiring acceptance speech that can be seen on the Cronkite School’s online Vimeo channel HERE. She encouraged young reporters to pursue investigative journalism and credited the mainstream media for breaking recent headline news about Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment scandal and lobbying by the drug industry.

Woodruff also thanked the National Center for Disability Journalism for its work promoting awareness of disability stories. Listen for Woodruff’s kind remarks about the NCDJ and its director Kristin Gilger at minute 4:07 of her speech.