Follow
I was lucky enough as to cover this prestigious awards in 2011 on my yearly trip to New York, and now The George Foster Peabody Awards’ 72nd annual search for excellence in electronic media has begun.
More than 100,000 “Call for Entries” alerts have been mailed worldwide, supplemented by advertising in media-industry publications. Original broadcast, cablecast and webcast programs presented in the calendar year 2012 are eligible. The entry deadline is Friday, January 11, 2013. Entrants may apply online at www.peabodyawards.com.
The Peabody Awards, established in 1940 and administered by the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, are the oldest honor in television and radio. Today the Peabody recognizes distinguished achievement and meritorious public service by television and radio stations, networks, producing organizations, individuals and the Internet.
The 71st Annual Peabody Awards were emceed by Sir Patrick Stewart, star of two past Peabody winners (Star Trek: The Next Generation and Macbeth), at New York’s Waldorf=Astoria Hotel in May. Award recipients ranged from NBC’s workplace comedy Parks and Recreation to Storycorps 9/11, an anthology of remembrances of the attacks, its victims and survivors presented on National Public Radio. The diverse Peabody winners also included the websites Ted.com and BBC.com, Showtime’s counter-terrorism drama Homeland, and the classic quiz show Jeopardy!
Peabody Awards went to a number of local television news efforts including investigative reports Operation Deep Freeze, by Cleveland’s WEWS-TV, and Toxic Secrets, by KPHO-TV in Phoenix.
International winners included NHK and Fuji Television’s respective coverage of Japan’s catastrophic tsunami; SABC 1’s Intersexions, a public-service drama aimed at slowing the spread of AIDS; and A Year in the Clouds, a documentary from Taiwan’s PTS about an indigenous mountain people dealing with the encroaching modern world.
The Peabody Award, considered the most selective and prestigious honor for electronic media programming, is unique in that there are no categories for entry or nominations. Entries are judged by a 16-member board, which includes television critics, industry practitioners, scholars and experts in culture and fine arts.
For further information regarding the Peabody Awards or to request an entry form, call (706) 542-3787, e-mail the Peabody office at peabody@uga.edu, or visit the Peabody web site at www.peabodyawards.com.