Joseph Rosendo's Lifetime Achievement Award
- Diana Mathur
- Oct 22, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 4
Update! April 2026. Joseph Rosendo wins ETHOS Films Lifetime Achievement Award!
The ETHOS festival celebrates purpose-driven cinema focused on diversity, inclusion, sustainabiity and social impact.
The festival's theme - the Power of Kindness showcased mental health, environmental consciousness and human connection aimed at creating a more compassionate world.
Joseph's travel shows have been aired for about twenty years on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service.) The primary point of public broadcasting is to provide educational, non-commercial, and accessible media that prioritizes public service over profit. The public channels often support niche and diverse programming that may not be profitable for commercial networks, including emergency communication.
In 2025, Congress voted to eliminate federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting after a push from the Trump administration, which argued that public media exhibited political bias and spread radical, woke propaganda. The CPB subsequently voted to dissolve, while PBS and affiliates still broadcast news, arts, and educational programming, relying on private donations and philanthropic grants.
The good news is that Joseph Rosendo's Steppin' Out is still available through PBS stations and streaming platforms, and it continues to be distributed nationally.
In a way, Joseph's recent ETHOS Lifetime Achievement Award may be especially timely. His work exemplifies exactly the kind of cultural and educational programming that public television has long championed: travel that encourages curiosity, understanding, and human connection. Whether the public media landscape changes or not, there is still a substantial audience for Joseph's brand of storytelling.
Musings & Escapades from the Road (posted Oct 2025)
A while back I picked up Musings, The Short Happy Pursuit of Pleasure and Other Journeys by travel writer Joseph Rosendo (Travelscope, Inc, 2020) at a Topanga Chamber of Commerce meeting. He signed it, reminding me of Mark Twain saying travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narow-mindedness.
You can read Musings’ short chapters in any order and be immediately transported. Some entries are exotic, like monks blessing Joseph in Cambodia. Some are “ordinary,” like the hilarious and relatable childhood trips to an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord. I loved Joseph’s advice on when and how to haggle. It’s all an adventurous journey, the book tells me. A way of seeing the world with curiosity and gratitude, celebrating humanity and connection.
This week, Joseph was nominated for several Daytime Emmy Awards for Steppin’ Out. Already a six-time Emmy winner, he’s directed and hosted 14 seasons of adventures.
When not on the red carpet escorting a lovely star, Joseph can be found picking up trash on Topanga Canyon Boulevard every Sunday morning, with a group he inspired, the Topanga Trash Warriors. Thanks, Joseph. Xoxo
Musings is designed by Nira Lichten.
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