Andrew Cuomo Receives International Emmy Founders Award

Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, is the recipient of this year’s International Emmy Founders Award, recognizing his use of television to inform and calm people around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The governor’s 111 daily briefings worked so well because he effectively created television shows, with characters, plot lines and stories of success and failure,” said Bruce L. Paisner, the president and CEO of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. “People around the world tuned in to find out what was going on, and New York tough became a symbol of the determination to fight back.”

The Founder’s Award is presented to an individual or organization who “crosses cultural boundaries to touch our common humanity.” Prior recipients include U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg.