On Tuesday, CNN celebrated the fact that the Leftmedia outfit had been awarded the Walter Cronkite Award from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism for its infamous Parkland Townhall, a shamelessly orchestrated event designed to vilify gun rights and attack the NRA in the wake of the massacre at a Florida high school. The NRA’s Dana Loesch was invited to speak at the townhall event under the false pretense of “advancing the conversation.” Instead, she was vilified for defending the Second Amendment and representing the NRA.

As Hot Air’s Allahpundit describes it, “Dana Loesch was suckered into attending in the belief that this would be some sort of civil moderated discussion about the pros and cons of gun control. As it was, she was jeered for noting that some rape victims wished they had a gun during their attack, had people shout 'murderer' at her, and allegedly needed a security detail to exit the event safely.”

Loesch responded to the news of CNN’s award, stating, “Is this a joke? Seriously?” She then posted a video clip of the townhall event, writing, “Here is some footage where people were yelling to burn me at CNN’s award-winning townhall where they ‘advanced the conversation on gun control.’”

National Review’s Charles C. W. Cooke writes, “But let’s be clear: This wasn’t ‘journalism.’ It wasn’t a ‘town hall,’ either. … This was the event at which the now-removed Sheriff Scott Israel had the temerity to play the put-upon hero. It was an event at which traumatized children were encouraged to scream at adults that they were literally trying to kill them. It was an event devoid of reflection, reason, thought, or facts. All that was missing was the pitchforks.”

Evidently, the Walter Cronkite Award is awarded to media outfits that produce leftist propaganda and fake news. It’s certainly not given for actual journalism.