YOUNGSTOWN — The Rev. James Korda, retired president of the Catholic Television Network of Youngstown, has won the Gabriel Award for Personal and Lifetime Achievement.

The award was given recently at the 2023 Gabriel Awards during the 2023 Catholic Media Conference in Baltimore in recognition of Korda’s career in radio and television ministry.

Officials with the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown said Korda accepted the award during the ceremony, at which a highlight video of his career was played. The tribute video can be found at www.doy.org/korda-lifetime-gabriel-award/

Korda retired in July 2022 as an active priest of the Diocese of Youngstown and as president of CTNY after three decades of service as a producer, director, host, content creator and media executive. He continues to serve as host of the radio program “Wineskins.”

The Gabriel Awards were created in 1965 to “recognize outstanding artistic achievement in a television or radio program or series that entertains and enriches with a true vision of humanity and true vision of life.”

The 57th annual Gabriel Awards recognized achievements in film radio, television and digital media.

The award’s judges highlighted Korda’s efforts throughout his career to promote human dignity and ecumenical ministries through the media.

Korda’s many interviews included those with the leaders of Catholic Charities and women’s centers, ecumenical partners and programs on important cultural issues such as racism, bullying and the COVID-19 pandemic.

During his career, Korda built upon Catholic radio and television initiatives in the Diocese of Youngstown that dated back to the 1950s, including the establishment of CTNY in the 1980s and the Ecumenical Television Channel in 1983.

Korda joined CTNY as a producer in 1985. Throughout his 30-year media career, he served as CTNY’s pastoral director or president for 20 years, as well as president of the Ecumenical Telecommunications Coalition of Northeast Ohio.

Nationally, Korda was a producer of coverage of the 1987 pastoral visit of Pope St. John Paul II to the United States, for CTNA (the then-television network for the U.S. bishops).

Officials with the diocese said CTNY and the Diocese of Youngstown have won 46 radio and television awards — including three Gabriel Awards — most of which came during Korda’s time in leadership.

This year, in addition to Korda’s Gabriel Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Diocese of Youngstown received an Award of Distinction for “Wineskins” from the 2023 Communicator Awards, given by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts.

“With our stories, we have the privilege of building a better world. Through our efforts, and with an ecumenical attitude and spirit, we witnessed to the God who nurtures, calls and unites us all,” Korda said.

Bishop David Bonnar celebrated Korda’s award, saying, “Father Korda is a media icon in Youngstown, and respected both nationally and right here at home as a priest and communicator. I am grateful to Father Korda for his pioneering work in proclaiming the Gospel and for his legacy of communicating the compassionate love of God with innovation and joy.”

Justin Huyck, director of communications for the Diocese of Youngstown, said, “Through his career and ministry, Father Korda has bridged generations. Just as he helped CTNY realize its potential in radio and television, building on those before him, I am grateful for the ways he is accompanying our Department of Communications as we transition from CTNY to The Catholic Echo as an integrated multimedia brand, inclusive of broadcast, digital and print.”

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