By Ethel Yagudayeva
After the ceremony, recipient of the Damon Runyon award Ari Shapiro poses for a selfie with CU students and alumni. From left to right: Ari Shapiro, Ethel Yagudayeva, John Meylor, Lincoln Roch, Ann Marie Vanderveen, Ainsley Coogan, Jack Armstrong, Juanita Hurtado Huerfano.
Saturday evening, I had the pleasure of attending the 2025 Damon Runyon Award Banquet, where award-winning journalist Ari Shapiro was honored as this year’s recipient of the prestigious award.
This nomination couldn’t have been more fitting. A long-time host of NPR’s All Things Considered, an international correspondent, and a fantastic singer, Shapiro is the embodiment of excellence that this award honors.
Historically, the Damon Runyon Award is presented at an exclusive banquet every year, hosted by the Denver Press Club. This banquet not only celebrates fantastic journalists, but also directs its proceeds to the preservation of the oldest press club in the nation. Better yet, all attendees of this award banquet also support five student journalism scholarships offered by the Denver Press Club, a generous investment into the next generation of journalists and storytellers. Ultimately, this Damon Runyon Award Banquet is a cherished tradition: one that honors journalism’s most accomplished voices while empowering the new, rising talents of the future.
That evening, senior editor John Meylor and alumni Juanita Hurtado and Jack Armstrong were among my Radio 1190 family at the banquet. All dressed in fine suits and pretty dresses, it was a fantastic reunion brimmed with excitement and stories from everyone’s recent life adventures. Surrounded by friendly faces from our CMDI campus, we enjoyed great food and the view of the podium where Shapiro reflected on his life’s work thus far. Emcee’d by 9News’ Chris Bianchi and interviewed by CPR’s Ryan Warner, Shapiro was charismatic and humorous throughout the night, a first impression of him in person I wouldn’t forget. Warner, wearing a suit he said “you could hear on the radio”, guided the interview featuring audio segments of Shapiro’s international reporting, his Pink Martini performance clips, and all the small jokes about the life of a journalist.
“How is your nervous system? Is it better?” Still makes me giggle, with Warner leaning in almost visibly concerned for Shapiro’s mental state. Thankfully, he is stable so far.
The audience awww’d when Shapiro thanked his parents for being in attendance at the banquet, and even more when he described the qualities he had inherited from them that built him into the journalist he is today.
I remember the moment when Shapiro explained what he believed is the essence of writing a story.
“If you go out to write a story, and you come back with it being exactly as you imagined, you did something wrong.”
Reminiscing about a restaurant owner he met as he covered news about refugees in his days across the globe, he said it is the constant search for a new perspective that makes a story worth telling. That is why he said to us: “Don’t go out to report a story in order to prove a point…a story must always surprise you”.
I’ve already quoted that moment to a few people since the banquet and aim to do so in the future.
CPR’s Nathan Fernando-Frescas concluded the night by gifting Shapiro a special watch, engraved Damon Runyon 2025, Ari Shapiro. The whole hall was bustling with people as everybody interacted, took photos, and made plans for the rest of the evening. Our group slowly pushed our way to the podium to meet Shapiro, and we luckily got the photo opportunity we all needed for the night. After making new connections and reviving some old ones, we all agreed to visit the Denver Press Club for the after-party, where we spent almost the rest of the night exploring the space, meeting new people, and enjoying the cozy community that had come together that night.
Radio 1190 was truly honored to attend this event. Thank you to Dean Lori Bergen and everyone of CMDI for making this incredible opportunity possible. We are immensely grateful for the encouragement and support of young journalists.