Athens, Ga. – For the first time in its 75-year history, 60 finalists have been named by the Peabody Awards’ Board of Jurors for 2015, from which a set number of winning programs will be chosen. To be known as The Peabody 30, these selections will be unveiled beginning next week, and honored at the 75th anniversary Peabody ceremony on May 21 in New York.
Additionally, three individual and institutional winners have been announced for Peabody Awards, which are based out of the University of Georgia. Late-night titan David Letterman and documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson will be recognized for their contributions to electronic media, and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” will receive an institutional Peabody.
The Peabody 30 will be revealed in a succession of announcements by category, beginning April 19 with the news, radio/podcast, public service and Web winners via Facebook Live. Entertainment and children’s/youth winners will be announced on “The Today Show” on April 21, and documentary and educational winners via Facebook Live on April 26.
Peabody Awards Director Jeffrey P. Jones said, “What better way to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Peabody Awards than to recognize two individuals and a television program that have transformed the cultural landscape through their unique contributions.”
The gala will be televised in a 90-minute special, “The 75th Anniversary Peabody Awards,” airing on Pivot, Monday, June 6 (8 p.m. ET/PT).
The 60 Peabody Awards Finalists (network/platform in parentheses)
“Abdi and the Golden Ticket” (This American Life)
This American Life
Radio/Podcast
“All In with Chris Hayes: Back to Baltimore” (MSNBC)
MSNBC’S All in with Chris Hayes
News
“American Experience: Last Days In Vietnam” (PBS)
A Moxie Firecracker Production for American Experience, WGBH
Documentary
“American Experience: Walt Disney” (PBS)
A Sarah Colt Productions film with the participation of Arte for American Experience, WGBH
Documentary
“Beasts of No Nation” (Netflix)
Participant Media, Come What May Productions, New Balloon
Entertainment
“Black-ish” (ABC)
ABC Studios
Entertainment
“Book of Negroes” (BET Networks)
Conquering Lion Pictures
Entertainment
“Burning Questions: WTAE Investigates Fire Response Times” (WTAE-TV)
WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh
News
“Catastrophe” (Amazon Video)
Avalon Television/Amazon Studios
Entertainment
CNN’s Coverage of Guns in America (CNN & CNN Digital)
CNN
News
“Cruel and Unusual: The Texas Prison Crisis” (WFAA-TV)
WFAA-TV, Dallas
News
“Desperate Journey” (PBS, WETA-TV)
PBS NewsHour
News
“Deutschland 83” (SundanceTV)
Fremantle International/Kino Lorber
Entertainment
“Divided by Law” (KUAT-TV)
Arizona Public Media
Radio/Podcast
Do Not Track (donottrack.us)
Upian, National Film Board of Canada, Arte, Bayerischer Rundfunk, CBC/Radio-Canada
Web
European Migrant Crisis/A New Life in Europe/Year of Migration (BBC News, BBC World Service, BBC Radio)
BBC News, BBC World Service, BBC Radio
News
“Fargo Installment 2” (FX Networks)
FX Productions, MGM Studios
Entertainment
“Fresh Off The Boat” (ABC)
20th Century Fox Television
Entertainment
“Gardeners of Eden” (Pivot)
Ganesh Forever
Documentary
“Get Real-Heart of the Haze” (Channel NewsAsia, Mediacorp Pte Ltd)
Channel NewsAsia, Mediacorp Pte Ltd
Public Service
“Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me” (CNN)
PCH Films
Documentary
“Going Clear: Scientology and The Prison Of Belief” (HBO)
Jigsaw Productions, HBO Documentary Films, and Sky Atlantic
Documentary
“Gravity Falls” (Disney XD)
Disney Television Animation
Children’s/Youth
“Growing Up Trans” (PBS/WGBH)
FRONTLINE
Documentary
“How to Dance in Ohio” (HBO)
HBO Documentary Films, Gidalya Pictures, and Blumhouse
Documentary
“Independent Lens: 1971” (PBS)
Maximum Pictures LLC and the Independent Television Service in Association with Big Mouth Productions, Motto Pictures and Fork Films
Documentary
“Independent Lens: India’s Daughter” (PBS)
Assassin Films, BBC Storyville, UK-INDIA, and Tathagat Films in association with Gamini Plyatissa Foundation, Vital Voices Global Partnership, DR, Plus Pictures Aps, CBC News Network, SVT, IKON, RTS, SRF and RAI
Documentary
“Independent Lens: Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People” (PBS)
Through a Lens Darkly, LLC, and the Independent Television Service (ITVS), produced in association with the National Black Programming Consortium
Documentary
“Inheritance” (PBS/WGBH)
FRONTLINE
Web
“Injured Heroes, Broken Promises” (KXAS-TV, NBC 5)
KXAS-TV, NBC 5, Dallas-Ft. Worth
News
“Invisibilia” (NPR)
National Public Radio
Radio/Podcast
“ISIS in Afghanistan” (PBS/WGBH)
FRONTLINE
Documentary
“Katie Morag” (Cbeebies)
Move on Up
Children’s/Youth
“Listen to Me Marlon” (Showtime)
Showtime Documentary Films Presents, A Passions Pictures Production, Cutler Productions
Documentary
“Marvel’s Jessica Jones” (Netflix)
Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios for Netflix
Entertainment
“Master of None” (Netflix)
Universal TV, Oh Brudder Productions, Alan Yang Productions, Fermulon
Entertainment
“Meet the Composer” (WQXR.org)
WQXR’s Q2 Music
Radio/Podcast
“Mr. Robot” (USA Network)
Universal Cable Productions
Entertainment
“Night Will Fall” (HBO)
Spring Films, Angel TV, and Ratpac Documentary Films in association with HBO Documentary Films
Documentary
“911: Lost On The Line” (WXIA-TV)
WXIA-TV
News
“POV: Don’t Tell Anyone” (No Le Digas a Nadie) (PBS)
American Documentary Inc. | POV
Documentary
“Precious Lives” (WUVM, WNOV, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism)
371 Productions
Radio/Podcast
“Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel: The Killing Fields” (HBO)
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel
News
“Secret Mustard Gas Experiments” (NPR News)
National Public Radio
News
“60 Minutes: A Crime Against Humanity” (CBS)
CBS News 60 Minutes
News
“60 Minutes: The Death Penalty in America” (CBS)
CBS News 60 Minutes
News
“The Case for School Desegregation Today” (This American Life)
This American Life
Radio/Podcast
“The Cosby Accusers Speak” (NBC)
Dateline NBC
News
The Counted: People killed by police in the United States (http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/series/counted-us-police-killings/)
The Guardian US
Web
“The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst” (HBO)
Hit the Ground Running
Documentary
The LaQuan McDonald Investigation (WMAQ-TV)
WMAQ-TV, Chicago
News
“The Leftovers” (Season 2) (HBO)
HBO Entertainment and Warner Bros Television in association with Damon Lindelof Productions and Film 44
Entertainment
“The Memory Palace” (http://thememorypalace.us/, Radiotopia)
Nate Dimeo
Radio/Podcast
“The Rain Forest Was Here-Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon” (NPR Broadcast + Digital npr.org)
National Public Radio
Radio/Podcast
“Transparent” (Amazon Video)
Amazon Studios
Entertainment
“UnREAL” (Lifetime)
A+E Studios
Entertainment
“VEEP” (Season 4) (HBO)
HBO Entertainment in association with Dundee Productions
Entertainment
“What Happened, Miss Simone?” (Netflix)
A Radical Media Production in association with Moxie Firecracker for Netflix
Documentary
“Wild Kratts” (PBS Kids)
Kratt Brothers Company and 9 Story Media Group
Children’s/Youth Programming
“Wolf Hall” (PBS)
A Playground Entertainment and Company Pictures Production for BBC and MASTERPIECE in association with BBC Worldwide, Altus Media and Prescience
Entertainment
About the individual and institutional winners
With a gap-toothed grin and a mind full of mischief, David Letterman sauntered onto the late-night TV landscape in 1982, ripped it up and remodeled it in the image we see now on every network and in every late-night host. Letterman’s irreverence, his outlandish gags and his prickly personality all resonated with wary, post-modern viewers. But if he was a brat in the hilarious early years, he literally grew up on the air, maturing into a late-night statesman as comfortable with a sincere commentary as a stupid pet trick. He came to us an enfant terrible, he retired a legend.
A prolific documentary filmmaker, a seeker of truth and justice, Stanley Nelson has examined the history and experience of African-Americans in a powerful, revelatory body of work that includes three Peabody winners-“The Murder of Emmet Till,” “Freedom Summer” and “Freedom Riders” -and ranges from “Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple” to “Sweet Honey in the Rock: Raise Your Voice.” A MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, Nelson is also co-founder of Firelight Media, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing young documentary filmmakers who advance underrepresented stories.
For decades there had been programs on television that spoofed newsmakers and current events, but “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” was something different, transformative. In an era of politicized, echo-chamber news channels and traditional-journalism timidity, Stewart and a cohort of talented farceurs, several of whom have also become household names, didn’t just make jokes about news, they became a crucial source of news for citizens united in their disappointment and disgust with politics and cable news. While “The Daily Show” is a program that existed before and after Jon Stewart’s tenure, there is little doubt that Stewart and his team, over the course of 17 years, made a lasting impact on political satire, television comedy and even politics itself.
About the Peabody Awards
Peabody is an organization dedicated to invigorating people through the power of stories. Founded in 1940, Peabody honors and extends conversation around stories that matter in radio, television, and digital media through symposiums, screenings, podcasts and an annual awards ceremony considered to be among the most prestigious in the entertainment industry. Peabody gives awards for news, entertainment, documentaries, children’s programming, education, interactive programming, and public service, in turn, encouraging the media industries to reach for and achieve the highest standards. Peabody is administered through the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications at The University of Georgia. For more information, visit peabodyawards.com or follow @PeabodyAwards on Twitter.
About UGA Grady College
Established in 1915, the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication offers undergraduate majors in advertising, digital and broadcast journalism, magazines, newspapers, public relations, publication management and mass media arts. The college offers two graduate degrees, and is home to the Knight Chair in Health and Medical Journalism and the Peabody Awards, internationally recognized as one of the most prestigious prizes for excellence in electronic media. For more information, see www.grady.uga.edu or follow @UGAGrady on Twitter