The Peabody Awards Board of Jurors has unveiled all 30 programs representing the most compelling and empowering stories released in broadcasting and streaming media during 2021.
Of the 30 winners, PBS led with six, followed by HBO/HBO Max with four, Netflix with three, and Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and The New York Times each with two. Additional winning networks and platforms include ABC, FX, KUSA, NBC News, NPR, Peacock, Rumble Strip, and VICE. (See highlights reel here.)
The Peabody Awards are based at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.
“Whether exposing injustice, detailing uncomfortable truths or making us laugh uncontrollably, all of the winners demonstrated how to tell a compelling story,” said Jeffrey Jones, executive director of Peabody. “With an ongoing pandemic, political obstructionism and senseless wars continuing to take and disrupt lives, these programs pushed past many obstacles to tell important stories that will stand the test of time. Peabody is proud to honor their incredible work.”
Chosen unanimously by a board of 19 jurors, the Peabody 30 are the best from over 1,200 entries submitted from television, streaming media and podcasts/radio. Entertainment winners like FX’s “Reservation Dogs,” Peacock’s “We Are Lady Parts,” and HBO Max’s “Sort Of” gave audiences hilarious, artistically evocative and complex experiences of communities historically underrepresented and stereotyped in television.
Documentary winners such as Hulu’s “Summer of Soul,” PBS’ “Mr. SOUL!,” and Netflix’s “High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America” highlighted Black cultural history as pivotal to American storytelling.
The nine news winners this year covered numerous pressing issues, including reporting of the Jan. 6 insurrection, Afghanistan’s past and future, abortion access, and trans rights. PBS’ “January 6th Reporting” and The New York Times’ “Day of Rage: How Trump Supporters Took the U.S. Capitol” documented a turning point in American democracy, while local news outlets were named winners for their investigations into deadly use of the prone position in arrests (KUSA), the lack of public resources for single parents facing housing insecurity (NBC Bay Area), and the erosion of civil liberties for protesters (ABC15 Arizona).
The 30 winners of the 82nd Annual Peabody Awards were named during a multiday virtual celebration from June 6-9. Video announcements and acceptances are available at: https://peabodyawards.com/2022-acceptance-videos/.
Celebrity presenters announced each winner via a short video which included remarks from the winners. The full list of winners and presenters is below. The winners were announced on Twitter (@PeabodyAwards); Instagram (@PeabodyAwards); Facebook (Peabody Awards) and online at https://peabodyawards.com.
Peabody previously announced “Fresh Air with Terry Gross” as the year’s Institutional Award winner. This distinctive honor recognizes institutions and organizations, as well as series and programs, for their enduring body of work and their iconic impact on both the media landscape and the public imagination. Dan Rather was also named winner of the Peabody Career Achievement Award. Dozhd, also known as TV Rain, the independent Russian television channel blocked by state authorities for its coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, won the Peabody Award for Journalistic Integrity. Peabody also made a special commendation in recognition of journalists killed globally in the last year.
82nd annual Peabody Awards winners
Arts
“Summer of Soul: (…Or When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” (Hulu) Presented by Alicia Keys
Children’s & Youth
“City of Ghosts” (Netflix) Presented by Monica Kaufman Pearson
Documentary
“Exterminate All the Brutes” (HBO/HBO Max) Presented by Stanley Nelson
“Mayor” (PBS) Presented by Hasan Minhaj
Entertainment
“Bo Burnham: Inside” (Netflix)
“The Underground Railroad” (Amazon Prime Video) Presented by Ibram X. Kendi
News
“Escaping Eritrea” (PBS / GBH / FRONTLINE) Presented by Jay Ellis
Podcast/Radio
“Finn and the Bell” (Rumble Strip) Presented by Adam Scott
Full Winners list
Institutional Winner
“Fresh Air with Terry Gross”
Career Achievement Award
Dan Rather
Peabody Award for Journalistic Integrity
TV Rain/Dozhd
Arts
“Summer of Soul (…Or When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” (Hulu / Searchlight Pictures / Onyx Collective)
Entertainment
“Bo Burnham: Inside” (Netflix)
“Dopesick” (Hulu)
“Hacks” (HBO/HBO Max)
“Reservation Dogs” (FX)
“Sort Of” (CBC/HBO Max)
“The Underground Railroad” (Amazon Prime Video)
“We Are Lady Parts” (Peacock and Channel 4)
“The Wonder Years” (ABC)
Documentary
“Exterminate All the Brutes” (HBO/HBO Max)
“High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America” (Netflix)
“In the Same Breath” (HBO/HBO Max)
“Mayor” (PBS)
“Mr. SOUL!” (PBS)
“My Name is Pauli Murray” (Amazon Prime Video)
“Philly D.A.” (PBS)
“A Thousand Cuts” (PBS / GBH / FRONTLINE)
Podcast/Radio
“Finn and the Bell” (Rumble Strip)
“Southlake” (NBC News)
“Throughline: Afghanistan: The Center of the World” (NPR)
News
“The Appointment” (ABC News)
“Day of Rage: How Trump Supporters Took the U.S. Capitol” (The New York Times)
“Escaping Eritrea” (PBS / GBH / FRONTLINE)
“January 6th Reporting” (PBS NewsHour)
“NBC Bay Area: ‘The Moms of Magnolia Street’ & ‘No Man’s Land: Fighting for Fatherhood in a Broken System’” (NBC Bay Area)
“Politically Charged” (ABC15 Arizona)
“PRONE” (KUSA)
“‘So They Know We Existed’: Palestinians Film War in Gaza” (The New York Times)
“Transnational” (VICE News Tonight)
Children’s & Youth
“City of Ghosts” (Netflix)