The late PBS NewsHour anchor Gwen Ifill and CBS News correspondent Bill Plante were posthumously awarded the Dunnigan-Payne Prize for lifetime career achievement Saturday at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Watch the presentation in the video player above.
The annual black-tie dinner — known for its fun albeit ferocious jabs at Washington — took a more solemn tone this year as President Joe Biden and others at the event acknowledged attacks on press freedom across the globe.
"We are here to send a message to the country and, quite frankly, to the world: The free press is a pillar, maybe the pillar, of a free society, not the enemy," Biden said in his speech.
WATCH: President Biden gives remarks at White House Correspondents' Dinner
Actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger opened the dinner with a pre-taped video about the importance of a free and independent press, calling reporters an "ally of the people."
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were seated on the stage along with comedian Roy Wood Jr., a correspondent for "The Daily Show," who was the evening's featured entertainer.