Thomas Bellut
ZDF boss awarded Emmy in New York
– Dr. Thomas Bellut (left) and Dirk Nowitzki in New York City. © imago/UPI Photo
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ZDF director Thomas Bellut received an International Emmy Directorate Award from Dirk Nowitzki in New York.
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The long-time ZDF director Dr. Thomas Bellut (66) received an International Emmy Directorate Award on Monday in New York City. The International Emmys are considered the most important television award in the world.
Basketball legend Dirk Nowitzki (43) presented Bellut with the award on Monday evening. In his laudatory speech, he praised public television for its contribution to the promotion of democracy, independent of politics and business.
German reunification was its highlight
In his speech, Bellut was grateful to be able to “work in the media business for almost 40 years without pressure from authorities or governments.” He dedicated the award to colleagues around the world for whom this is not possible. He also highlighted this message in an interview on the occasion of the award with the industry service “dwdl” and said that freedom of the press was coming under increasing pressure in many places. He described the reunification of Germany as “the highlight of my professional life as a journalist”.
Bellut acted as program director from 2002 to 2012, has been at the helm of ZDF since March 2012 and is responsible for all business and programming of the public broadcaster. He will not apply for a third term – it is now time for a new phase in life, said the 66-year-old in March.
He should actually have received the award in November 2020. Due to the corona pandemic, the award has been postponed for a year.
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