NEW YORK — The 49th annual Gracie Awards Luncheon has concluded, where a lengthy list of 2024 honorees were celebrated as the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to the pioneering New York Yankees color commentator Suzyn Waldman.
The annual event, presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWMF), saw Deborah Roberts, Senior National Affairs Correspondent at ABC News and co-anchor of news magazine “20/20,” hosted the affair at Cipriani 42nd Street. She was joined by WFAN-AM & FM host and former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber; Kristine Johnson, an anchor for WCBS-2 in New York and “CBS Mornings” contributor; NBC News entertainment correspondent Chloe Melas; WQHT “Hot 97” in New York air personality Nessa; ESPN SportsCenter anchor Amina Smith; and longtime New York air personality Shelli Sonstein, who with Jim Kerr can be heard at WAXQ “Q104.3” in New York and across the 1980s was a key member of the WPLJ morning show.
Tuesday’s affair concluded with Meredith Marakovits, clubhouse reporter for the YES Network, presenting Waldman with her honor. Waldman shared with the audience stories of her four decades in sports broadcasting, noting, “I’m probably one of the few people
in this room who listened to and the saw Gracie Allen every week on radio and then TV. There’s no ‘I Love Lucy’ without Gracie Allen and, probably an even better example,
there’s no Betty White without Gracie Allen. She knew who she was, learned how to sell
it perfectly for the times, and she was original. Thank you Gracie Allen.”
Waldman concluded with prudent advise. “I get women coming up to me all the time saying, ‘I want to be you, I want your job.’ Okay, that’s great… but if you take MY job, there’s still only one of us. If you make your OWN job, there’s two of us.”
AWM/F President Becky Brooks calls the event as “the perfect culmination of a Gracies season celebrating excellence in media and a poignant lead up to the 50th Annual Gracie Awards next year.”
The Gracie Awards were presented to honorees in recognition of individual achievement and outstanding programming by, for and about women in local and student television, radio and digital media.
At the event, Heather Cohen, President of The Weiss Agency and Gracies co-
Chair, introduced Emma Myers, the AWMF/Podcast Movement Scholarship recipient. Cohen noted, “The AWM Foundation plays a crucial role in the industry by providing scholarships and offering programs specifically focused on supporting women in media and their educational endeavors.”
Barber, the former NFL great now on the world’s first all-Sports radio station, noted during his comments, “I’ve been very fortunate to have been mentored by many women, including my mother … women have played an enormous role in my media career and also my life.”
