“The Kalb Report” has won the Gold World Medal in the 2018 New York Festivals International Radio Program Awards as the “Best Talk/Interview Special.” The honor marks the third time in six years that an edition of “The Kalb Report” has been awarded the gold medal.

This year’s winning program—“The Kalb Report: Guardians of the Fourth Estate”—featured moderator Marvin Kalb in discussion with New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet and Washington Post Executive Editor Marty Baron about the administration’s threats to press freedom and the extraordinary relationship between the president of the United States and the media.

The program, produced last October at the National Press Club in Washington, was honored at a June 18 gala in New York City where it bested entries from networks and local stations across the U.S. and around the world.

Michael Freedman, the program’s executive producer and UMUC senior vice president for communications, accepted the award on behalf of the partnership that produces it, led by UMUC and the National Press Club’s Journalism Institute.

“Rarely have the roles, responsibilities and indeed, the basic integrity of the American press been under such scrutiny as now,” he told the gathering in explaining the program’s premise. “Facing allegations ranging from blatant bias to reporting fake news, public trust and even public understanding of journalism appear in doubt.”

During his remarks, Freedman noted key moments from the award-winning episode.  “Truth may be elusive, but there is such a thing as truth,” Baquet of The Times remarked.

“If you tell the truth, if you are accurate, if you’re aggressive, and you’re fair, and you hold onto your principles, in the end, that’s the only way you can cover this president.”

And he quoted The Post’s Baron as saying, “We’re not at war, we’re at work.”

“The Kalb Report” previously was awarded Gold World Medals in 2012 and 2015. The program is carried by Sirius XM Satellite Radio nationwide and Federal News Radio in Washington.

For 24 years, “The Kalb Report” public broadcasting series has explored freedom of the press, media literacy, leadership in journalism and the roles and responsibilities of the press in our democracy.

Along with UMUC and the Journalism Institute, “The Kalb Report” is produced by a partnership with Harvard’s Shorenstein Center, George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, the Gaylord College of Journalism at the University of Oklahoma and the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.

It is underwritten by a grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.