Former conservative radio broadcaster Rush Limbaugh will be honored with a 2023 Leadership Award by the Broadcasters Foundation of America, the organization announced in a press release on Tuesday.
The radio broadcaster died last February following his announcement that he was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer.
Limbaugh first rose to prominence with a radio program on Sacramento’s news-talk station KFBK (1530 AM, 93.1 FM), where he replaced outspoken broadcaster Morton Downey, Jr. The show first aired in 1984, and quickly took on a political tone that became eponymous with Limbaugh through the rest of his radio career.
“The Rush Limbaugh Show” was first syndicated to radio stations across the country after Limbaugh moved to New York City and joined WABC (770 AM). Long before the era of social media, Limbaugh’s program provided a platform for government scrutiny and conspiracy theories, almost always with a politically-conservative tilt.
The Broadcasters Foundation of America didn’t say why it had chosen Limbaugh to receive its Leadership Award. The organization says the award is regularly bestowed upon those who make “career contributions to the broadcast industry and the community at-large.”
Other recipients of the Leadership Award include Debra O’Connell, the president of networks at the Walt Disney Company; Steven Lanano, the president of the Television Bureau of Advertising; and Heidi Raphael, the chief communications officer at Beasley Media; the founder of a media consulting firm; and a website publisher.
The awards will be presented at the Broadcasters Foundation annual breakfast event on Wednesday, April 19. The event coincides with the National Association of Broadcasters’ (NAB) own trade show, to be held in Las Vegas.
