Peabody Award Winners Announced
The Peabody Awards, from the Peabody Archive at the University of Georgia Libraries, is one of the USA’s oldest moving-image archives. For the 71st gong show winners included shows Homeland, CBS News and Game of Thrones.
“The range of the Peabody Awards’ search for excellence has never been wider or deeper than this year,” said Horace Newcomb, Director of the Peabody Awards. “Local news organizations covered stories with international import as well as those significant within their communities. Documentaries and news reports on issues missed or overlooked by big organizations were available on websites. Comedians engaged in political actions. Radio proved again the power of the individual human voice. Drama took on issues of power and control. Images of disaster appeared alongside images of hope and freedom.”
Nearly 40 gongs were issued earlier by at a ceremony in the Peabody Gallery on the University of Georgia Campus.
In drama Homeland from Showtime took a Peabody for its gritty psychological storylines and HBO fantasy-drama Game of Thrones took viewers to a world of dark-ages society.
Documentary saw Showtime’s Rebirth, pick up a gong for the factual movie which looked at five different people who experienced the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001.
Entertainment saw long running game show Jeopardy! pick up an award, factual saw CBS News win for a number of reports as did Al Jazeera English and ABC News.
As part of international television recognition the BBC were bestowed a Peabody for the programme, Somalia: Land of Anarchy, a programme broadcast on BBC One looking deep inside Somalia a country which has been decimated by war. The BBC also won a gong for the BBC.com website for its news coverage.
Other website winners included globalpost.com which looks at world events overlooked by mainstream media outlets.
Public Service Broadcasting also is celebrated. A Peabody Award was given to CNN for their programme All Star Tribute the programme that celebrates and rewards people who improve the lives of others in a significant way.
The award winners will be presented their gongs at a ceremony in New York City on May 21st. Sir Patrick Stewart, star of two Peabody winners, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Macbeth, will be preside over the event. The awards started in 1941 and are named after George Foster Peabody, the library founder, businessman and politician who died in 1938. His face forms part of the brass gong.