Thirty-six recipients of the 68th Annual Peabody Awards were announced April 1 by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. The winners, chosen by the Peabody board as the best in electronic media for 2008, were named in a ceremony in the Peabody Gallery on campus.
“The works recognized by the Peabody board this year not only reflect great diversity of content and genre, but also true technical innovation and the varied roles of new distribution systems,” said Horace Newcomb, Peabody director. “The list of winners this year clearly indicates a changing media environment that will continue to require judgment and evaluation through the Peabody Awards process.”
The recipients included Lost, ABC’s innovative, mind-bending adventure serial; “The Giant Pool of Money,” a remarkably comprehensible explanation of the current financial crisis from public radio’sThis American Life; and YouTube, the video-sharing Web site that puts an array of video artifacts, from historic political speeches to cell phone videos, at every Internet user’s fingertips. Black Magic, ESPN’s examination of the integration of basketball and its impact on the programs of historical black colleges and universities, received a Peabody, as did Saturday Night Live’s campaign-season political satire.
A Peabody went to Sichuan Television for its immediate coverage of the deadly earthquake that struck its Chinese province. For several days, SCTV was the only source of video for television news organizations around the world. National Public Radio also was recognized for its daily reporting on the quake. Peabodys went to CNN’s coverage of the presidential primaries and debates and to the election-year broadcasts of Washington Week with Gwen Ifill. The Hearst-Argyle television-station group was awarded for its extensive Commitment 2008 coverage of local and regional political contests.
An institutional Peabody was awarded to Turner Classic Movies, the cable channel devoted to showing, preserving and fostering a critical appreciation of vintage films.
The entertainment series selected included Breaking Bad, AMC’s drama about a terminally ill science teacher who turns to making and selling methamphetamine to build an estate for his wife and disabled son. John Adams, HBO’s miniseries about the lawyerly founding father, his wife, Abigail, and the times in which they lived, also received the award.
Also cited was HBO’s comedy Entourage, a wicked take on Hollywood and the joys and sorrows of minor stardom. Avatar: The Last Air Bender, an animated, Asian-influenced mythological epic shown on Nickelodeon, received a Peabody, as did Jungle Fish, a stylized slice of South Korean teen life from the Korean Broadcasting System.
A Peabody also was awarded to Richard Engel Reports: Tip of the Spear, a series of reports under-fire by the NBC News correspondent from the deadliest zone in Afghanistan.