Veteran journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Vineyard youth Shavanae Anderson are the recipients of the Stone Soup Leadership Institute’s 2012 Walter Cronkite Award. The awards, given to those who use the power of the media to build a more educated and sustainable world, were presented at a ceremony at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown on August 2.

Ms. Hunter-Gault, who was unable to attend the ceremony, commented in a prepared speech on the meaning of the award and the man for whom it was named.

“Walter Cronkite’s journalism was infused with the kind of moral authority and passion that lit our path . . . and which, I have tried to embrace during my almost 50 years as a journalist,” she said. “This award in Walter Cronkite’s name will spur me to keep on keeping on — trying to the best of my ability to be a witness on behalf of a public that needs all of us to be the best we can be in what I still consider to be one of the noblest professions of all.

Anderson, the recipient of the youth award, spoke of Mr. Cronkite’s influence. “I want more leaders like the best journalist and most trusted man of America, Walter Cronkite, to keep inspiring us to make another world possible. . . . This is the world that we can all have. This is the world that my generation is working to build. This is the world that each one of us is required to take it from a mere dream into a concrete reality.” Ms. Anderson filmed and co-produced the video Passing the Torch in honor of Amnesty International’s 50th Anniversary with Harry Belafonte, Rose Styron, Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and others.

Former CBS News anchor and journalist Nick Clooney headlined a tribute to Mr. Cronkite at the third annual awards ceremony. Vineyard seasonal resident Jeffrey Kramer, an executive producer at CBS Network Television and CBS Studios Inc. introduced Mr. Cronkite’s daughter, Kathy, who presented the awards.

“Dad would be proud not only of this award in his honor, but of those receiving it,” said Ms. Cronkite. “He was passionate about educating young people to be global citizens. He loved this Island especially and knew that the problems here were a microcosm of problems facing the world community.”

The event was organized by the Stone Soup Leadership Institute, a nonprofit education organization founded in 1997. A reception was hosted by Kim and Drew Conway for the Martha’s Vineyard Youth Leadership Initiative, a project of the Stone Soup Leadership Institute.