PHILADELPHIA, PA — WHYY’s nationally distributed interview program Fresh Air has received two major industry distinctions, with longtime host Terry Gross earning the Radio Television Digital News Association’s highest honor and co-host Tonya Mosley joining EBONY’s 2026 Power 100 list of influential Black leaders.
Gross was selected for the RTDNA’s 2026 Paul White Award, which recognizes lifetime achievement and service to journalism, while Mosley was recognized for her influence in media and public discourse.
The honors extend national recognition of Fresh Air, the Philadelphia-produced program distributed by NPR that reaches more than 6 million listeners weekly through broadcast radio and podcasts.
Gross was scheduled to receive the Paul White Award at the Edward R. Murrow Awards Gala on October 12 in New York City.
Named for CBS’s first news director, the award has previously recognized journalists including Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Barbara Walters and Ted Koppel.
“Few journalists have shaped the art of the interview quite like Terry Gross,” RTDNA President and Chief Executive Officer Tara Puckey said in announcing the selection.
Gross has spent five decades with Fresh Air, establishing the program as a national platform for extended interviews with authors, artists, entertainers, journalists and other public figures.
Her work has emphasized detailed preparation and sustained conversations that examine subjects beyond their immediate public appearances or professional accomplishments.
Mosley’s selection for EBONY’s Power 100 places her among the publication’s 2026 honorees recognized for their influence on culture, media and public life.
According to WHYY, Mosley is the first public radio host selected for the list.
The honorees are scheduled to be recognized November 9 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles during an event organized around the theme “The Stories We Shape.”
Mosley joined Fresh Air as co-host in 2023 after serving as a host of NPR’s Here & Now. An Emmy-winning journalist, she has worked across broadcast journalism and public radio, focusing on interviews that examine cultural, social and personal issues.
“This one is especially meaningful to me,” Mosley said, recalling her childhood experience reading EBONY and anticipating its annual Power 100 issue.
WHYY President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Marrazzo credited both journalists with sustaining the program’s approach to interviewing.
“They ask questions that open new paths to understanding and listen closely enough to follow where the answers lead,” Marrazzo said.
The recognition comes as Fresh Air continues operating under a dual-host format, combining Gross’s decades of experience with Mosley’s work across public radio and television journalism.
Produced by WHYY in Philadelphia and distributed nationally by NPR, Fresh Air covers contemporary arts, culture and public affairs through extended interviews.
The program’s audience spans broadcast radio and podcasts, with listeners in more than 200 countries and territories, according to WHYY.
The two honors recognize separate career achievements within a program that remains one of Philadelphia’s most widely distributed national media productions.
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