Peabody Awards

Last updated
Peabody Awards
The 2014 Statuettes (18416671309).jpg
2014 statuettes
Awarded forDistinguished achievement and meritorious public service by television and radio stations, networks, producing organizations, individuals, and the World Wide Web
Country United States
Presented by Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia
First awardedMarch 29, 1941;83 years ago (1941-03-29)
Website www.peabodyawards.com

The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) [1] program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in all of television, radio, and online media. Because of their academic affiliation and reputation for discernment, the awards are held in high esteem within the media industry.

Contents

It is the oldest major electronic media award in the United States. Established in 1940 by the National Association of Broadcasters, the Peabody Award was created to honor excellence in radio broadcasting as the radio industry's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prizes. [2] It was later expanded to include television, and then to new media including podcasts and streaming. Final Peabody Award winners are selected unanimously by the program's Board of Jurors. [3] Because submissions are accepted from a wide variety of sources and styles, reflecting excellence in quality storytelling rather than popularity or commercial success, the deliberations seek "Excellence On Its Own Terms". [4]

Programs are recognized in seven categories: Entertainment, Arts, Children's/Youth, Podcast/Radio, Interactive & Immersive, and Public Service. [5] Each entry is evaluated on the achievement of standards established within its own context. [1] [6] Peabody Award winners include radio and television stations, networks, online media, producing organizations, and individuals from around the world.

History

In 1938, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting. [7] Committee member Lambdin Kay, public-service director for WSB radio in Atlanta, Georgia, at the time, is credited with creating the award, named for businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, who donated the funds that made the awards possible. [8] [9] Fellow WSB employee Lessie Smithgall introduced Lambdin to John E. Drewry, of the University of Georgia's Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, who endorsed the idea. [9] [10] The Peabody Award was established in 1940 with the Grady College of Journalism as its permanent home. [4]

The Peabody Awards were originally issued only for radio programming, but television awards were introduced in 1948. In the late 1990s additional categories for material distributed via the World Wide Web were added. [1] Materials created solely for theatrical motion picture release are not eligible.

Peabody judging

Close-up view of the medallion George Foster Peabody Awards.jpg
Close-up view of the medallion

The Peabody Awards judging process changed in 2014. Previously, more than 1,000 entries were evaluated by some 30 committees composed of a number of faculty, staff, and students from the University of Georgia and other higher education institutions across the country. [11] Each committee was charged with screening or listening to a small number of entries and delivering written recommendations to the Peabody Board of Jurors, a ~17-member panel of scholars, critics, and media-industry professionals. [11] Beginning in 2015, the preliminary round of judging is done by faculty members at major research universities across the United States, most of which are not at UGA. The 18-member Board of Jurors selects the nominees and winners each year. [12] [13] Board members discuss recommended entries as well as their own selections at three intensive preliminary meetings. The Board convenes at the University of Georgia in early April for final screenings and deliberations. Each entrant is judged on its own merit, and only unanimously selected programs receive a Peabody Award. [4] For many years, there was no set number of awards issued. However, in 2016 the program instituted the Peabody 30, representing the best programs out of a field of 60 nominees.

Key people

George Foster Peabody, 1907 Pach Brothers - George Foster Peabody.jpg
George Foster Peabody, 1907

Award announcements and ceremonies

Each spring, the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors announces award recipients for work released during the previous year. Traditionally, the winners' announcements have been made via a simple press release and/or a press conference. An April 2014 segment of CBS This Morning included an announcement of 2013 Peabody winners. [17] In April 2015, the 2014 Peabodys were revealed over an 8-day period, with the entertainment-based recipients revealed on ABC's Good Morning America . [18]

The formal presentation of the Peabody Awards is traditionally held in late May or early June. The awards were given during a luncheon in New York City for many years. The ceremony moved to a red carpet evening event for the first time on May 31, 2015, with Fred Armisen serving as host. [18] Several famous names have served as Peabody Awards ceremony hosts over the years, among them Walter Cronkite, Lesley Stahl, Jackie Gleason, Jon Stewart, Morley Safer, Craig Ferguson, Larry King, [1] [19] and Ira Glass. [17] From 2014 to 2016, the Peabody Awards aired on a tape-delayed basis on the TV channel Pivot. [20] On June 2, 2017, a television special of the 76th Peabody Awards aired on PBS and Fusion. [21]

Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection

The Peabody Awards Collection is the flagship of The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection. The archives are housed in the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries on the north campus of The University of Georgia. The mission of the Peabody Archive is to preserve, protect, and provide access to the moving image and sound materials that reflect the collective memory of broadcasting and the history of the state of Georgia and its people. The collection contains nearly every entry for the first major broadcast award given in the United States. Entries began in 1940 for radio and 1948 for television, and at least 1,000 new entries are received every year—programs created by local, national, and international producers. The collection provides a cultural cross-section of television from its infancy to the present day, featuring news, documentary, entertainment, educational, and children's programming. Once judging is complete, all entries are moved to the Main Library for in-depth cataloging, access, and long-term preservation. [22]

In 2017 the Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia (BMA) and WGBH, on behalf of the American Archive of Public Broadcasting, were awarded a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to digitize, preserve, and provide access to approximately 4,000 hours of public broadcasting programming nominated for a George Foster Peabody Award between 1941 and 1999. The full collection will eventually comprise 4,000 digitized hours of audio and video recordings from 230 local, state, and regional public broadcasting stations in 46 states as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. [23]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Canadian Association of Journalists is an independent, not-for-profit organization that offers advocacy and professional development to journalists across Canada. The CAJ was created to promote excellence in journalism and to encourage investigative journalism in Canada. The CAJ presents annual investigative journalism awards, including the McGillivray Award and the Charles Bury Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlayne Hunter-Gault</span> American journalist

Alberta Charlayne Hunter-Gault is an American civil rights activist, journalist and former foreign correspondent for National Public Radio, CNN, and the Public Broadcasting Service. Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes were the first African-American students to attend the University of Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSB (AM)</span> Clear-channel news/talk radio station in Atlanta

WSB is a commercial AM radio station in Atlanta, Georgia. It simulcasts a news/talk radio format with 95.5 WSBB-FM, licensed to Doraville. WSB and WSBB-FM are the flagship stations for Cox Media Group which also owns three other Atlanta radio stations and ABC Television Network affiliate WSB-TV. WSB is among the highest billing stations in the U.S. The studios and offices are in the WSB Television and Radio Group Building on West Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph McGill</span> American journalist (1898–1969)

Ralph Emerson McGill was an American journalist and editorialist. An anti-segregationist editor, he published the Atlanta Constitution newspaper. He was a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors, serving from 1945 to 1968. He won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WGTA (TV)</span> MeTV affiliate in Toccoa, Georgia

WGTA is a television station licensed to Toccoa, Georgia, United States, serving much of the northeastern portion of the state. The station is owned by Marquee Broadcasting, and has studios on Big A Road in Toccoa; its transmitter is located northwest of Black Rock Mountain outside of Toccoa in unincorporated Stephens County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Betsy Stark</span> American television journalist

Betsy Stark is an American media executive and former broadcast news correspondent. Since January 2011, she has been managing director of Content and Media Strategy for the global communications firm Ogilvy Public Relations a division of WPP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. Leonard Reinsch</span> American radio executive

James Leonard Reinsch was a broadcasting executive. He was president and CEO of Cox Communications. Behind the scenes, he gave advice to four Presidents. He assisted the White House Press Secretary office in 1945, during the transition from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to President Harry Truman and advised Winston Churchill on his 1946 "Iron Curtain" speech.

The Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication is a constituent college of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States. Established in 1915, Grady College offers undergraduate degrees in journalism, advertising, public relations, and entertainment and media studies, and master's and doctoral programs of study. Grady has consistently been ranked among the top schools of journalism education and research in the U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Johnson (journalist)</span> American journalist and media executive (born 1941)

Wyatt Thomas Johnson is an American journalist and media executive, best known for serving as president of Cable News Network (CNN) during the 1990s and, before that, as publisher of the Los Angeles Times newspaper. He was a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors from 1976 to 1980. In addition, Johnson is a long-time member of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation board of trustees and a former member of the Rockefeller Foundation board of trustees.

Marcy Carsey is an American television producer and a member of the George Foster Peabody Awards board of jurors. She is best known for her work with fellow producer Tom Werner forming the company Carsey-Werner Productions in 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Brooks (historian)</span> American historian, author and retired television executive

Tim Brooks is an American television and radio historian, author and retired television executive. He is credited with having helped launch the Sci Fi Channel in 1992 as well as other USA Network projects and channels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl J. Glade</span> American mayor (1885–1966)

Earl J. Glade was the 25th mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dmae Roberts</span> Taiwanese-American writer, actor, and playwright

Dmae Roberts, aka D. Roberts, is a Taiwanese-American independent public radio producer, writer, actress and playwright. Much of her work focuses on cross-cultural issues or personal storytelling. Roberts was born in Taipei, Taiwan and grew up in Japan until she was eight. Her family moved to Junction City, Oregon when she was 10 years old. Roberts moved to Eugene, Oregon and graduated from the University of Oregon with a B.S. in journalism. Roberts relocated to Portland in 1989 to pursue her acting career while continuing to do her national radio work. She is executive producer of the nonprofit MediaRites. She is a member and former board member of the Association of Independents in Radio as well as a member of the Asian American Journalists Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hank Plante</span> American journalist

Henry A. "Hank" Plante is an American television reporter and newspaper columnist. Winner of the George Foster Peabody Award and multiple Emmys, he covered California for three decades for TV stations in San Francisco and Los Angeles. He now writes occasional columns for newspapers in California, usually focusing on politics or gay and lesbian issues. One of the first openly gay TV reporters in the United States, Plante is the recipient of various honors from LGBT rights advocacy organizations and trade groups. In addition, Plante was featured in the documentary "5B" 5B (film), which was honored at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. The film is about the first AIDS ward in the nation, which Plante covered as a reporter. In 2023 Hank was named a "USC Fellow" as part of the USC Center for the Political Future.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horace Newcomb</span>

Horace Newcomb held the Lambdin Kay Chair for the Peabody Award in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia from 2001 through June 2013. Prior to this, he was a member of the Board of Jurors from 1989 to 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey P. Jones</span>

Jeffrey P. Jones is executive director of the George Foster Peabody Awards and Lambdin Kay Chair for the Peabodys at the University of Georgia. Jones was appointed as only the fifth director of the program in July 2013. He is also Director of the Peabody Media Center. Jones is the author and editor of six books including Entertaining Politics: Satirical Television and Political Engagement and Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Barron</span> American radio and television journalist

Greg Rowe Barron is an American radio and television journalist, producer and communications executive. His early radio feature work influenced public radio storytelling in the United States and how sound is used in documentary production. Described by Variety in 1981 as "one of the most renowned creators of radio documentaries in the nation", his work as a producer for Minnesota Public Radio between 1972 and 1980 was recognized by numerous regional and national journalism awards and he was an early advocate of the use of high fidelity stereophonic sound as an integral element of radio journalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Godfrey</span> American television journalist (1931–2019)

Milton Edwin "Ed" Godfrey Jr. was an American television journalist, an innovative, award-winning, multi-market television news producer and news director who also served as a director-at-large and president of the Radio Television News Director Association. Godfrey's achievements included pioneering Evening in 1975, the nation's first broadcast early evening news magazine show. He also lead the broadcast news industry's successful effort to abolish the Fairness Doctrine that hampered the broadcast media.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Moore, Frazier (September 26, 2002). "Emmys over? Now let's get acquainted with the Peabodys". The Daily Courier . Associated Press . Retrieved 2013-04-11.
  2. ↑ "Peabody Award". Encyclopedia Britannica. 19 January 2024.
  3. ↑ Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. "Peabody; Who We Are" . Retrieved 2017-09-18.
  4. 1 2 3 Koehler, Robert (2011-05-21). "Peabody board casts wide net for excellence". Variety . Retrieved 2013-04-11.
  5. ↑ "Peabody Awards Announce 42 Nominees for the Following Categories: Entertainment, Arts, Children's/Youth, Podcast/Radio, Interactive & Immersive, and Public Service". peabodyawards.com. Peabody Awards. 13 April 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  6. ↑ Lawhorn, Jenny (2005-04-09). "NPR Wins Peabody Award for Iraq Reporting". NPR . Retrieved 2013-04-11.
  7. ↑ "Broadcasters Honor Rusk". The Albany Herald . Associated Press. 1989-01-19. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
  8. ↑ "Radio: New Order of Merit". TIME . Time Inc. 7 April 1941. Archived from the original on December 9, 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2009.(subscription required)
  9. 1 2 "60 Minutes Journalist To Deliver UGA's Peabody-Smithgall Lecture". TheStreet.com. PR Newswire. 2011-03-16. Archived from the original on 2013-06-30. Retrieved 2013-04-23.
  10. ↑ "Local business icons inducted into hall of fame". AccessNorthGa. 2012-04-13. Retrieved 2013-04-23.
  11. 1 2 Cummins, Lance (2004-03-17). "Local student to judge Peabodys". TheCitizen. Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 2013-04-23.
  12. ↑ "Our Story".
  13. ↑ "Judging".
  14. ↑ "About the Authors". McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  15. ↑ Shearer, Lee (2001-03-27). "UGA names new Peabody director". Athens Banner-Herald . Archived from the original on 2013-06-05. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
  16. ↑ "The Peabody Awards". peabodyawards.com.
  17. 1 2 "Ira Glass Will Host 73rd Annual Peabody Awards," Archived 2017-03-12 at the Wayback Machine from the Peabody Awards website (accessed 4/16/2015)
  18. 1 2 Announcement of early 74th Peabody Award winners Archived 2015-04-16 at the Wayback Machine from PeabodyAwards.com (accessed 4/15/2015)
  19. ↑ "Larry King Hosting Peabody Awards". The Huffington Post . Associated Press. 2011-03-07. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
  20. ↑ "Participant Media’s Pivot to Broadcast Peabody Awards Through 2016," Archived 2022-05-23 at the Wayback Machine from Variety 3/17/2014
  21. ↑ Pedersen, Erik (2017-04-03). "Peabody Awards 2017 To Air On PBS & Fusion; Rashida Jones Set As Host". Deadline. Retrieved 2017-07-28.
  22. ↑ "History :: UGA Libraries Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection". uga.edu.
  23. ↑ "Peabody Awards Collection". americanarchive.org. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.