CBS Evening News and Clarissa Ward win duPont award

CBS News correspondent Clarissa Ward is one of the recipients of the 2013 Alfred I. duPont Columbia University Awards, honoring the best in broadcast and digital reporting.

Ward is being recognized for a series of reports from inside Syria, alongside Scott Pelley, anchor and managing editor of CBS Evening News; Patricia Shevlin, executive producer; Heather Abbott, senior producer; Randall Joyce and Ben Plesser, producers; and Mark Ludlow, editor.

Ward first entered Syria in November 2011 alone, posing as a tourist. Equipped with only a small camera, she chronicled a first-hand look inside the revolution, meeting with anti-government activists and members of the Free Syrian Army. Her videos followed activists and regular citizens as they struggled to defend themselves against the Syrian government. In February 2012, Ward and Plesser were the first American journalists to report live from Syria with the rebels. Over the past year, Ward has traveled to Syria six times to report on the violence as part of CBS' "Inside Syria" series.

"It was some of the most heart-stopping reportage I've ever seen," said Linda Mason, senior vice president of standards and special projects for CBS News.

Every year, the duPont Awards, handed out by Columbia Journalism School, recognize about a dozen news stories for the strength of their reporting, storytelling and public interest impact. A jury selects the winning pieces from hundreds of entries vetted by a board of screeners.

The awards will be presented at Columbia University's Low Library in a ceremony hosted by leading broadcast journalists, featuring highlights of the award-winning reporting.

Ward was named CBS News foreign correspondent in October 2011 and currently reports for all CBS News broadcasts and platforms. She graduated from Yale University with distinction and is fluent in French and Italian and has a command of Mandarin, Arabic, Russian and Spanish.

CBS Evening News With Scott Pelley is also the recipient of the 2012 George Foster Peabody Award for Ward's original reporting from Syria.