Telling Stories the World Needs to Hear: The Peabody Award Winners
(Photo: Courtesy Peabody Awards)
Diversity, education, groundbreaking investigative reporting, and heroic coverage of real-time events are just some of the themes that the winners of the 73rd Annual Peabody Awards have in common. The winners, which were announced today, are considered the best in electronic media for 2013.
The Peabody Awards were established in 1940 when the National Association of Broadcasters wanted to recognize outstanding work in its industry. Because Pulitzer Prizes are only for print media, the association teamed up with the University of Georgia and created the equivalent to recognize radio work. The Peabody Awards began recognizing television programs in 1948 and now recognizes Web-based content too.
The excellence represented by the winners covers a courageously wide range of issues. Peabody Awards judges evaluated the more than 1,000 entries using three key questions: "Does this story matter?" "Does it inform us as citizens?" "Does it help us empathize with one another?"
As can be expected, coverage of breaking news events that dominated in the past year, such as the Boston bombing and Typhoon Haiyan, won awards. But what may be a surprise is that this year the popular show Scandal, which features African American showrunner Shonda Rimes and African American lead actor Kerry Washington, is receiving an award.
There were also awards for programs that emerged through nontraditional broadcast means, such as "A Needed Response," a viral YouTube video that turned the spotlight on the Steubenville, Ohio, rape scandal. Several streaming series, such as Orange Is the New Black, the Netflix show that made transgender actor Laverne Cox a star, also won.
Here is the full list of Peabody Awards winners.
Hollow
Hollow Interactive, LLC
This documentary explores the rural communities of McDowell County, West Virginia.
A Short History of the Highrise
The New York Times, National Film Board of Canada
This interactive documentary explores the 2,500-year global history of vertical living and the resulting social equality challenges.
The Race Card Project (NPR’s Morning Edition)
The Race Card Project, NPR News, NPR’s Morning Edition
The interactive report and project captures participants’ questions and observations about race and identity.
A Chef’s Life (PBS)
Markay Media in association with South Carolina ETV (SCETV)
This cooking series takes you inside the life of chef Vivian Howard.
TCM: Story of Film (TCM)
This 15-part documentary series takes viewers through filmmaking history.
Burka Avenger (Geo Tez)
Unicorn Black
This is the first animated action series from Pakistan.
A Needed Response (YouTube/Samantha Stendal)
Samantha Stendal, Aaron Blanton
This response to the Steubenville, Ohio, rapists went viral.
Breaking Bad (AMC)
Sony Pictures Television
The five-season series depicts the life and times of chemistry teacher–turned–meth dealer Walter White.
Orphan Black (BBC America)
Temple Street Productions in association with BBC America and SPACE
This Canadian science fiction series tackles the issue of cloning humans.
Broadchurch (BBC America)
Kudos and Imaginary Friends Coproduction
This British television crime drama starring David Tennant centers on the search for an 11-year-old boy’s killer.
Scandal (ABC)
ABC Studios
This political thriller series features Kerry Washington as a Washington, D.C., fixer.
The Bridge (FX)
Shine America and FX Productions
This series tells what happens after a body is found on the bridge between Denmark and Sweden.
The Returned (Sundance Channel)
Haut et Court TV, Canal Plus, Jimmy, Cine Plus, Backup Films
This spooky French series is in its second season and is sure to give you chills.
Key & Peele (Comedy Central)
Central Productions
This popular sketch comedy series stars Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele.
House of Cards (Netflix)
Donen/Fincher/Roth, Trigger Street Productions Inc., Media Rights Capital, Netflix
Intrigue is the name of the game in this political series.
Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)
Lionsgate Television, Netflix
This comedy series sheds light on women in prison and sexuality.
Borgen (DR1, Denmark)
This Danish political drama follows that country’s first female prime minister.
Inside Syria’s War (BBC World News)
BBC World News America
This news report details what’s happening on the ground in Syria.
Louisiana Purchased (WVUE-TV, New Orleans)
WVUE-TV and NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune
This news report reveals how Louisiana politicians spent millions on perks, including meals, golf, and event tickets.
One-on-One With Assad (CBS)
CBS This Morning, CBS News
Charlie Rose’s exclusive sit-down interview with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Fault Lines: Haiti in a Time of Cholera (Al Jazeera America)
Al Jazeera America
This news report details how the cholera epidemic that killed thousands of Haitians happened.
Fault Lines: Made in Bangladesh (Al Jazeera America)
Al Jazeera America
This post–Bangladesh factory collapse news report investigates whether retailers such as Walmart and Gap know where their clothes are being made.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates: Questions of Influence (WTVF-TV, Nashville)
WTVF-TV
This documentary reveals how Tennessee’s state government works.
Hanford’s Dirty Secrets (KING-TV, Seattle)
KING 5 Television
This news report investigates what’s really going on at a 586-square-mile nuclear waste site.
Outside the Lines: NFL at a Crossroads: Investigating a Health Crisis (ESPN)
ESPN
This series explores the health issues impacting NFL players.
League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis (PBS)
Frontline, Kirk Documentary Group
This report details how former players and scientists claim the NFL has covered up players’ brain injuries.
In Plain Sight: Poverty in America (NBC and NBC News)
The ongoing poverty reporting initiative tells the stories of Americans trying to make ends meet.
Coverage of the Boston Marathon Bombings (WBZ-TV, Boston, and WBZ Radio)
The two stations produced nonstop coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings and the events that followed.
Coverage of Typhoon Yolanda (GMA Network Inc., Philippines)
The network produced groundbreaking coverage in the aftermath of the typhoon.
Personal Award: Tom Brokaw
The veteran news journalist is recognized for his outstanding achievements.
Reveal: The VA’s Opiate Overload (Public Radio)
The Center for Investigative Reporting, Public Radio Exchange (PRX)
The episode explores how VA-issued prescriptions of four opiates have skyrocketed.
Harper High School (WBEZ Chicago 91.5)
WBEZ Chicago’s This American Life
Ira Glass spent five months at Harper High School in Chicago, where, in 2012, twenty-nine former and current students were shot.
Latino Americans (PBS)
WETA, LPB (Latino Public Broadcasting), Bosch & Company, ITVS
This landmark three-part, six-hour series was the first major documentary series for television to tell the rich history and experiences of Latinos.
The Central Park Five (PBS)
Florentine Films, WETA
This Ken Burns film tells the story of the five black and Latino teenagers who were wrongly convicted of raping a white woman in 1989.
Independent Lens: How to Survive a Plague (PBS)
How to Survive a Plague LLC, Public Square Films, Impact Partners, Little Punk
This film tells how HIV activists fought the pharmaceutical industry and helped turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition.
Independent Lens: The House I Live In (PBS)
Charlotte Street Films, Independent Television Service (ITVS), BBC, ZDF/ARTE, NHK Japan
This documentary explores the human rights implications of the war on drugs.
Independent Lens: The Invisible War (PBS)
Chain Camera Productions, Independent Television Service (ITVS), Girls Club Entertainment, RISE Films, Fork Films, Cuomo Cole Productions, Canal Plus
This film tells the story of the best-kept and most shameful secrets in the U.S. military: the epidemic of rape and sexual assault.
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (HBO)
Jigsaw Productions, HBO Documentary Films, Wider Film Projects, Below the Radar Films
This documentary follows the first known protest against Catholic Church sex abuse, by four deaf men.
Six by Sondheim (HBO)
HBO Documentary Films and Sabella Entertainment
This documentary celebrates the life and accomplishments of composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim.
Life According to Sam (HBO)
HBO Documentary Films and Fine Films LLC
This documentary shares one family’s fight to save its only son from a rare and fatal disease, progeria.
180 Days: A Year Inside an American High School (PBS)
National Black Programming Consortium, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS
This documentary tells the revealing story of Washington Metropolitan High School and its first graduating class.
The Law in These Parts (PBS)
American Documentary/POV
This documentary explores the legal framework that allows Israel to occupy the West Bank.
Best Kept Secret (PBS)
American Documentary/POV, BKS Films, LLC
This film tells the story of John F. Kennedy High School, an innovative inner-city high school that’s called Newark’s best-kept secret.
Great Performances: Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy (PBS)
B’way Films LLC, Ghost Light Films, Albert M. Tapper and Thirteen for WNET
This documentary explores the role of Jewish composers and lyricists in the creation of the modern American musical.
The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross With Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (PBS)
Thirteen, Inkwell Films, Kunhardt McGee Productions in association with Ark Media
This documentary series explores African American history from slavery to the first black president.
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (CNN)
CNN, Zero Point Zero Production Inc.
This travel and food show follows Anthony Bourdain as he explores extraordinary locations.