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Jake Tapper to receive Temple’s Lew Klein Excellence in Media Award

Past recipients include Charles Barkley, Tina Fey, and Whoopi Goldberg.

This undated image from video provided by CNN shows Jake Tapper on the set of his show "The Lead with Jake Tapper." Tapper says he wants the show to be a broad look at the news, encompassing business, politics and entertainment. (AP Photo/CNN)
This undated image from video provided by CNN shows Jake Tapper on the set of his show "The Lead with Jake Tapper." Tapper says he wants the show to be a broad look at the news, encompassing business, politics and entertainment. (AP Photo/CNN)Read moreAP

This fall, Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication will honor CNN anchor Jake Tapper with the school’s most prestigious media award.

Tapper, who was raised in the Queen Village section of Philadelphia and on the Main Line, will receive Temple’s Lew Klein Excellence in Media Award in a ceremony on Oct. 4 in recognition of his work as a political and investigative reporter. As the 19th recipient of the award, Tapper joins a list of honorees that includes the likes of Charles Barkley, Tina Fey, and Whoopi Goldberg.

“Jake Tapper represents so many of the values we strive to impart to our students,” said David Boardman, Klein College dean and chair of the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, which owns The Inquirer. “In addition to his keen political insight, he is known for courageous reporting and straightforward truth-telling.”

Tapper joined CNN in 2013 and currently hosts the network’s weekday news program, The Lead with Jake Tapper, as well as State of the Union on Sunday mornings. Previously, Tapper worked as a correspondent at ABC News, where his coverage included Hurricane Katrina, the Iraq War, and the 2008 presidential election.

In addition to Tapper, this year’s ceremony will honor six Klein College alumni, including the Miami Herald’s Julie K. Brown, a 1987 Temple alumnus and former Philadelphia Daily News reporter who is credited with reviving the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking case. Other honorees include former Inquirer reporters Murray Dubin and Mel Greenberg.

Klein, a broadcast pioneer who died in June at age 91, had a hand in selecting this year’s honorees, according to a release. The school was renamed in his honor two years ago.

“It will be difficult to hand out these awards without Lew,” Boardman said. “But I know he would have been so proud of the people receiving them.”