Comedian Jon Stewart and liberal political commentator Rachel Maddow were recently honored with a Walter Cronkite award for excellence in political journalism by the University of Southern California’s prestigious journalism school.

The Dec. 12 ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., also celebrated 2025 honorees such as Scott Pelley of “60 Minutes” and Peter Alexander of NBC News.

The award from the the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism seeks to celebrate “journalists whose work exemplifies the role of a free press in protecting constitutional principles, defending the rule of law, and holding power to account,” according to a news release from the school.

People reported Stewart is the first comedian to earn the award “after taking on Trump with ‘The Daily Show.'”

The journalism school, in its news release, noted Stewart is the inaugural winner of its new “comedic news and commentary” category, added this year to “recognize the growing impact of political information conveyed through comedy, satire and parody.”

Maddow and her team at the “Rachel Maddow Show” were honored for their reporting of the “Hands Off” protests criticizing the Trump administration.

“Judges … praised Maddow’s ‘original style’ and ‘consistent vivid storytelling,’ reviving her nightly format to report on Trump’s first 100 days,” USC’s news release stated.

The awards were given solely to left-leaning journalists, primarily who lead the charge taking on the second Trump administration, the Media Research Center pointed out.

“Not only was there no award given to anyone who investigated the left, but there was also no award given to anyone who did something non-Trump related,” the group reported. “The 2025 Walter Cronkite Awards ended up being just another instance of journalists patting themselves on the back for allegedly keeping democracy alive.”

MORE: Professor triggered by conservative students’ ‘Fake News’ event