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Tony Bennett, Don Imus Among Presenters at AFTRA Foundation’s 2010 AMEE Awards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEW YORK CITY (Feb. 16, 2010) – The AFTRA Foundation today announced the presenters for the 2010 AFTRA Media and Entertainment Excellence Awards (The AMEES), where the spectrum of AFTRA talent will be on display. Award-winning broadcast journalist and Radio Hall of Famer Bob Edwards will host the dinner gala benefit on Monday, Feb. 22, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Edwards is AFTRA National First Vice President and is a past AMEE Award recipient in broadcasting.
Award presenters were chosen by the honorees and include:

* Singing legend Tony Bennett and broadcast journalist Jorge Ramos (WNJU’s “Noticiero 47”) will present the AMEE Award in Sound Recordings to Latin music superstar Juanes.
* Sesame Workshop CEO Gary Knell will present the AMEE Award in Entertainment to the cast of “Sesame Street.”
* Bob Edwards will present the AMEE Award in Broadcasting to Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts.
* “CBS News Sunday Morning” contributor Bill Geist will present the AMEE Lifetime Achievement Award in Broadcasting to veteran newsman Charles Osgood.
* Radio personality Don Imus will present his longtime friend, Sam Moore, with the AMEE Lifetime Achievement Award in Sound Recordings.

The AMEES were created in 2003 to honor AFTRA members for excellence in their craft and their contributions to the fields of media and entertainment. Proceeds from the 2010 AMEE Awards go to benefit the AFTRA Foundation, an independent non-profit organization separate from AFTRA that provides support to charitable and educational endeavors critical to AFTRA members, including the George Heller Memorial Scholarship which provides scholarships to AFTRA members and their dependents for academic study, and the International News Safety Institute, the only global organization solely dedicated to the safety of journalists and other news professionals.

About the AFTRA Foundation The AFTRA Foundation is building for the future of performers, broadcasters, and recording artists. Founded by the AFTRA National Board of Directors in 1997 as a separate legal entity from the union, the AFTRA Foundation is a charitable and educational organization funded through tax-deductible voluntary contributions, grants, and bequests—not AFTRA member dues—to support projects outside the scope of normal activities of AFTRA, including charitable endeavors, special conferences, studies, seminars, and other events.

About AFTRA The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, AFL-CIO, are the people who entertain and inform America. In 32 Locals across the country, AFTRA members work as actors, journalists, singers, dancers, announcers, hosts, comedians, disc jockeys, and other performers across the media industries including television, radio, cable, sound recordings, music videos, commercials, audiobooks, non-broadcast industrials, interactive games, the Internet and other digital media. The 70,000 professional performers, broadcasters, and recording artists of AFTRA are working together to protect and improve their jobs, lives, and communities in the 21st century. From new art forms to new technology, AFTRA members embrace change in their work and craft to enhance American culture and society. Visit AFTRA online at www.aftra.com.
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Contact: cdehaan@aftra.com, simmons@aftra.com