A high school senior leveled a scathing rebuke of CBS News during his speech accepting a scholarship funded by the network.
Santiago Campos expressed gratitude as he received the Mike Wallace Memorial Scholarship at the 47th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards this week. But while he thanked CBS News for the “generous” scholarship, he called out the network for insulting the legacy of the broadcast journalist the award was named after.
Campos: While I want to thank CBS news for funding this generous gift towards my education, I want to acknowledge how the recent direction of the outlet stains the legacy of Mike Wallace, the namesake of this scholarship.
If at any time you hesitate to utter the word genocide or… pic.twitter.com/2F4IynX37H
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 28, 2026
“While I want to thank CBS News for funding this generous gift towards my education, I want to acknowledge how the recent direction of the outlet stains the legacy of Mike Wallace, the namesake of this scholarship,” Campos, a student from the District of Columbia International School in Washington, D.C., said at the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences event in New York.
“As corporate elites take hold over the very pipes through which our information flows, journalism that serves people becomes increasingly harder to come by, yet ever more crucial, and what the people want is the truth,” the student journalist lectured after audience applause.
“So if at any time you hesitate to utter the word ‘genocide’ or remain silent in the face of blatant lies, remember to ask yourself: Who is this for? I hope you choose us,” Campos concluded.
Former CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley told Campos he “looked “forward to seeing your work in the future.”
“God, we need young people like you right behind us,” said Pelley, who presented the award to Campos, telling the high school senior that Wallace was “looking down at you with pride.”
Campos was awarded the $10,000 scholarship “after his winning submission looked at recent immigration crackdowns in the United States. The piece featured a personal story from his own family,” according to The Independent. “Campos produced his piece, which featured interviews with relatives about their deportation stories, for the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs. ”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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