Zirinsky, the Senior Executive Producer of CBS News' broadcast 48 HOURS, will be honoured on Tuesday, 9 April at the New York Festivals International Television & Film Awards ceremony taking place at the annual NAB Show in Las Vegas. The NYF Television & Film Lifetime Achievement Award recognises prominent industry leaders whose accomplishments and contributions have advanced their field and made a lasting impression on the industry. The organisation is now in its 56th year of honouring the World's Best TV Programs & Films.
"By selecting Susan Zirinsky as the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, New York Festivals honours a woman whose commitment to broadcast journalism has been paramount, covering the major domestic and international stories of our time," said Rose Anderson, NYF Television & Film Awards Executive Director. "She's a producer's producer whose body of work is an inspiration."
In addition to her work on 48 HOURS, now in its 25 full season, Zirinsky routinely is the Senior Executive Producer of breaking news specials events for CBS News, including the Aurora, CO theatre shooting and the murders at a Newtown, CT elementary school. She has also produced special projects for CBS Entertainment, the CW and Showtime.
Her extensive journalism career has provided her with a front seat to some of the iconic moments in TV news history including the Falklands War, the student uprising in Tiananmen Square, the Gulf War, the invasion of Panama, the election of President Barack Obama, 9/11, The Presidencies of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan George H. Bush and World Summits in Moscow, Russia Helsinki, Finland; Malta and Iceland. Zirinsky's vast body of work includes producing documentaries on fashion, music and the occasional "Person-to-Person" newsmaker profile specials.
Zirinsky was also the executive producer of CBS News' historic and award-winning "9/11" broadcast, a riveting documentary that included the only picture of the first plane going into the North Tower of the World Trade Centre as well as video footage inside the Towers capturing first responders who would ultimately die in the buildings' collapse. The documentary garnered an Emmy, a George Foster Peabody Award, A Christopher Award, a Writers Guild of America Award, a Radio-TV News Directors award, and the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence. Zirinsky has won multiple Emmy Awards for her body of work.
The New York Festivals Awards ceremony will shine the spotlight on the 2013 World's Best TV & Films, as well as present the Lifetime Achievement Award, Broadcaster of the Year, Production Company of the Year, and United Nations Department of Public Information Awards. Award winners and ceremony attendees will have access to the 2013 NAB Show. For more information or to order tickets, click here.
