Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, award-winning sports journalists and co-hosts of ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, will receive the National Press Club’s highest honor, the Fourth Estate Award, on Oct. 4. Kornheiser and Wilbon are the 45th recipients of the award and the first joint recipients. The Fourth Estate Award recognizes journalists who have made significant contributions to the field.

“Mike Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser through their lifetime individual and joint accomplishments as journalists have been able through the prism of sports, unify people of all walks of life bringing clarity, debate, humor, depth and wisdom to the table across print, radio and television platforms,” Club President Jeff Ballou said. “They have also spent a lifetime mentoring colleagues and engaged in countless philanthropic endeavors. The National Press Club’s Fourth Estate Award is about a well-rounded body of lifetime achievement. Mike and Tony have undoubtedly accomplished as much.”

The Fourth Estate Award is the top honor bestowed on a journalist by the Club’s Board of Governors. Previous winners include Wolf Blitzer, Gwen Ifill, Charlie Rose, Andrea Mitchell, Bob Woodward, Jim Lehrer, Walter Cronkite, Christiane Amanpour and David Broder. The gala dinner is a fundraiser for the National Press Club Journalism Institute, the Club’s nonprofit affiliate, which advocates for press freedom worldwide, provides professional development and training services, and awards scholarships to aspiring journalists.

(Photo Credit: WTOP. Bobbleheads of Kornheiser and Wilbon at PTI’s D.C. offices)