Gov. Cuomo receives International Emmy Award for pandemic press conferences

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been named the recipient of the 2020 Founders Award to be presented today during the International Emmy Awards ceremony.

Cuomo was cited for the 111 daily press briefings he held during the spring and summer that detailed New York”™s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bruce Paisner, president and CEO of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (IATAS), noted that Cuomo”™s briefings “worked so well because he effectively created television shows, with characters, plot lines and stories of success and failure. People around the world tuned in to find out what was going on, and New York Tough became a symbol of the determination to fight back.”

The IATAS is the globally focused division of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which presents the Emmy Awards for U.S. primetime and daytime programming. Although the International Emmy Awards honor programming from other countries, the Founders Award frequently pays tribute to U.S. entertainment industry figures, including Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg and Norman Lear.

Cuomo is first incumbent elected official to receive the Founders Award ”“ former Vice President Al Gore was honored in 2007, six years after he left office. Today”™s award ceremony will be webcast in a virtual presentation.