Groundbreaking news anchor Connie Chung and The New York Times reporter Hannah Beech will receive this year’s Hugo Shong Awards, presented by the Department of Journalism at Boston University’s College of Communication (COM).

As part of the awards celebration, Chung will give the closing keynote talk for COM’s annual Power of Narrative conference on Saturday, March 29 at 4:45 p.m. in Metcalf Hall in the George Sherman Union at Boston University. Beech will speak at 3:45 p.m., and both presentations are free and open to Boston University students, staff and faculty.

“We couldn’t be more delighted with this year’s winners of the Hugo Shong Awards,” said Brian McGrory, chair of COM’s Department of Journalism. “Hannah Beech is that rare reporter who is as empathetic as she is dogged, a journalist of range and depth as she explores and exposes the human condition across Asia. Connie Chung achieved groundbreaking work across nearly every significant network, always with an ability to move seamlessly from the anchor desk to the field, from delivering the news to creating it in trenchant interviews.”

Chung is the recipient of the Hugo Shong Lifetime Journalism Achievement Award which “honors the journalist whose body of work and contributions to the field exemplify the highest quality of reporting and analysis, outstanding accomplishments and ethical standards of the journalistic profession.”

Chung was the first women co-anchor of the CBS Evening News, and the first person of Asian descent to anchor any news program in the United States. Before this role, she was a co-anchor for CBS-owned KNST in Los Angeles, then anchor at NBC News at Sunrise and NBC Nightly News on Saturdays before returning to CBS. In reporting for CBS, NBC, ABC and CNN, Chung covered a wide array of stories, from interviewing Magic Johnson after he went public with his HIV-positive status to interviews with U.S. Rep. Gary Condit after the murder of intern Chandra Levy. Her memoir, Connie, published this year by Hachette Book Group, became a national bestseller.

Beech is the recipient of the Hugo Shong Reporting on Asia Award for displaying “the highest standards of international journalism in a series of reports on matters of importance specific to Asia.”

Beech is a senior correspondent based in Bangkok for The New York Times, and previously served as the newspaper’s Southeast Asia bureau chief. Before the Times, she reported on Asia for Time magazine, covering China’s rise among other topics. She has reported from more than 40 countries.

Named after award-winning journalist and COM (’87) alum Hugo Shong, the awards highlight outstanding journalists and their work to uphold the highest standards of the profession. Past winners of the Hugo Shong Awards include Ted Koppel, Dean Baquet, Pete Souza, and Carol Guzy.

Shong is a Boston University Trustee and a member of COM’s Dean’s Advisory Board.