Howard Stringer to accept Norman L. Cahners Award on behalf of Sony Corp. at CEBA Ceremony

Robert Wright for GE and Gerald Levin for Time Warner are previous honorees

New York – Howard Stringer, president of Sony Corporation of America, one of broadcasting's most prominent players, will accept the Norman L. Cahners Lifetime Achievement Award at the third annual Creative Excellence in Business Advertising (CEBA) Awards luncheon, September 16. The ceremony will be held at the Sheraton New York Hotel.

Stringer will accept the Cahners Award on behalf of Sony Corporation and Nobuyuki Idei, co-CEO and president of Sony Corporation. The 1998 awardee was announced today by Bruce Barnet, president and CEO of Cahners Business Information. Barnet will present Stringer with the Norman L. Cahners Award at the luncheon. The Norman L. Cahners Award recognizes outstanding, creative use of the business press in the marketing of products and services. It also salutes the winning company for its industry leadership and success in defining a corporate image.

"We were deeply impressed by Sony's powerful ability to leverage its brand across markets, from consumer electronics to movies, from recorded music to video games and semiconductors," commented Barnet. "It will be an honor to present Howard Stringer with this prestigious award on behalf of Sony Corporation and Mr. Idei."

The luncheon, a forum in which the business-to-business advertising world salutes its own, is presented by the American Business Press (ABP), a magazine trade association of specialized business publishers.

"Under Mr. Idei's leadership, Sony continues to chart new territory in the hardware and software business for the communications and entertainment sectors," commented Gerry Byrne, vice president, publisher ofVariety, and chairman of the CEBA Awards Committee.

Stringer, whose broadcasting career has spanned more than 33 years, became president of Sony Corporation of America in 1997. Before joining Sony, he had been chairman and CEO of TELE-TV, the media and technology company formed by Bell Atlantic, NYNEX and Pacific Telesis. Prior to that, Mr. Stringer had a distinguished 30-year career with CBS Inc.

Under Stringer's leadership, CBS became the first network to rise from last to first place in one season. Sony Corporation's president was also responsible for convincing David Letterman to bring his critically acclaimed late night show to CBS.

As president of CBS News, Stringer was responsible for the development of48 Hours,CBS This Morning, andWest 57 ^th Street. He also served as executive producer of CBS REPORTS, the CBS News documentary unit that won virtually every major honor including 31 Emmys, four Peabody Awards, three Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, and many more.

Stringer also serves as vice chairman of the American Film Institute and is on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Television and Radio. He is also a trustee of American Women in Radio and Television and serves as a director of the Motion Picture & Television Fund Foundation, in addition to working with numerous other prestigious organizations.

The CEBA Awards, first presented in 1996, are the industry's top accolade for excellence in business advertising.

Past recipients of the Norman L. Cahners Award, presented at the annual CEBA ceremony, have been General Electric and Time Warner. Robert Wright, president of NBC, and Gerald Levin, chairman and chief executive officer of Time Warner, accepted on behalf of their respective companies.

Cahners Business Information is a member of the Reed Elsevier plc group (NYSE: RUK and ENL), a world leading publisher and information provider, with principal operations in North America and Europe. Cahners publishes 127 business magazines and provides 18 business communities with online services, custom publishing, directories, research and direct mail lists. Cahners is on the Internet atwww.cahners.com.

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