Rosenstiel Wins Media Critic’s Award

Times media writer Thomas B. Rosenstiel on Tuesday was named winner of the 1991 Lowell Mellett Award for outstanding media criticism.

The $1,000 award, named for the distinguished Scripps-Howard editor and columnist, cited Rosenstiel’s stories about how media technology hastened the overthrow of Communist governments in Central Europe, about structural changes in the television industry and the role of the news media in the early days of the Persian Gulf crisis.

“Rosenstiel is a gifted and unconventional media critic who consistently illuminates the influence of the press on politics,” the judges said. The citation with the award, which is administered by the Penn State School of Communications, also praised his “awareness of social and technological trends, which provides a context for his insightful analyses on society.”