Russ Mitchell Honored By National Association of Black Journalists

Russ Mitchell

By Frank Macek

Channel 3 Evening 6 & 11 PM Anchor and Manging Editor Russ Mitchell has been honored with two Salute to Excellence Awards that were awarded at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) conference last week in  New Orleans.

Russ joined Channel 3 News earlier this year from CBS News where he worked for nearly 20 years, first as co-anchor of Up to the Minute, an original co-anchor on Saturday Early Show and most recently anchor of the CBS Sunday Night News and primary substitute for Scott Pelley.

His two NABJ awards were earned last year at CBS.

The first was in the "Television - General Assignment: Short Form" category for "Anniston Freedom Riders Anniversary", along with his CBS News colleagues Alturo Rhymes, Patricia Shevlin and Jared Kindestin.

The second award was in the "Television - Feature: Long Form" category for "Harry Belafonte," a segment that aired on CBS News Sunday Morning.

Russ tells the Director's Cut Blog that he and the team had a great time doing both of those stories. "I remember telling Harry Belafonte about a story my mother shared with me," says Mitchell. "Apparently, when I was a kid some woman who clearly needed glasses told my mother that I looked just like Harry Belafonte. When I told Harry the story he leaned over and said, 'Your mother never told you about us, did she?' It was a funny moment from a legendary guy."

Congratulations to Russ.

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