About

The Jamal Khashoggi Annual Address on Journalism and the Media will feature Jim Axelrod March 18, 2025. This address honors Jamal Khashoggi, a 1983 alumnus of Indiana State University. Mr. Khashoggi was among the journalists known as “The Guardians” honored by Time magazine as Person of the Year in 2018 for their pursuit of truth despite tremendous obstacles.

This annual address examines current and critical issues related to journalism, the first amendment and freedom of the press. Invited speakers include prominent journalists, authors, filmmakers, photojournalists or other professionals working in the media.

Jim Axelrod is the chief investigative and senior national correspondent for CBS News, reporting for “CBS Mornings,” the “CBS Evening News,” “CBS Sunday Morning,” and other CBS News broadcasts.

While at CBS News, Axelrod has covered a broad range of domestic and international stories, notably the war in Iraq and the American invasion of Afghanistan. In 2003, Axelrod was the first television journalist to report live from Baghdad’s Saddam International Airport immediately after it fell to U.S. troops. His live coverage of the U.S. Army firing artillery rounds into Iraqi positions was the first to be broadcast by a reporter embedded with ground troops engaged in combat in Iraq. Axelrod also covered the departure of U.S. troops from Iraq and was the last reporter to leave with the military in December 2011.

Axelrod’s investigative journalism has been honored with a Peabody Award for his series on West Virginia’s opioid addiction crisis, a George Polk Award for his work, and an Edward R. Murrow award for his reporting on the genetic testing industry. He was also part of the CBS News team honored with a 2010 duPont Columbia Silver Baton for “CBS Reports: Children of the Recession.” Axelrod also won Emmy awards in 2002, 2014 and 2016.

Axelrod joined CBS News in 1996 as a Miami-based correspondent and later served in the Dallas Bureau (1997-1999) and New York Bureau (1999-2006). He also served as CBS News’ chief White House correspondent (2006-2009) and was named a CBS News national correspondent in 2009. From 2012-2016, Axelrod was the anchor of the Saturday edition of “CBS Evening News.”

Before joining CBS News in 1996, he was a political reporter at WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina (1993-1996). Previously, Axelrod was a reporter for WSTM-TV Syracuse, New York (1990-1993); and at WUTR-TV Utica, New York (1989-1990). He began his career at WVII-TV Bangor, Maine, in 1989.

Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Axelrod was graduated from Cornell University in 1985 with a bachelor of arts in history and from Brown University in 1989 with a master of arts in history.

Axelrod is the author of “In The Long Run: A Father, A Son, and Unintentional Lessons In Happiness,” which was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2011.