Awards & Accolades

The University of Georgia announced that CNN would receive three Peabody Awards, for its coverage of the Arab Spring, “CNN Heroes” and “Fareed Zakaria GPS.”

For CNN, the three awards represented three different styles of television journalism, a fact not lost on executives there.

“When you look at some of the other award winners it is really the best of the best in television and radio, and we are obviously honored to be part of that company,” CNN executive VP Mark Whitaker told TVNewser. “I think it is particularly gratifying when you look at the three awards that we received.”

One was for CNN’s coverage of the Arab Spring. “CNN has continued to expand its international resources at a time when most other news organizations are cutting back, and we think that really paid off,” says Whitaker. “We also have shown a special commitment to covering the conflict in Syria which has been very difficult to cover because of the degree to which the government there is trying to keep journalists out.”

Whitaker says the award for Zakaria is gratifying in a different way.

Zakaria will be honored for his program “Restoring the American Dream: Fixing Education” as well as for his commentary on Iran. Whitaker says it shows that CNN “can go in-depth in coverage of various issues.”

CNN’s third Peabody goes to the CNN Heroes annual event. “It is always nice to win three awards, but when you win three awards that reflect three different parts of your mission and your brand and what you are capable of, it is even more gratifying.”

CNN Worldwide president Jim Walton‘s memo to staff, after the jump.

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The 2012 Peabody Award winners have been announced, and there are lots of winners from the world of TV news.

CNN is taking home three Peabodys, one for its coverage of last year’s Arab Spring uprising, another for “CNN Heroes” and the last for “Fareed Zakaria GPS.”

ABC News and Brian Ross received a Peabody for the investigative report looking into the Peace Corps, while the “CBS Evening News” and correspondent Clarissa Ward won a Peabody for her coverage of the Syrian uprising.

Al Jazeera English won a Peabody for its coverage of the Arab Spring uprisings, and the BBC won two awards, one for a documentary examining Somalia and a second for BBC.com.

As usual, plenty of entertainment programs won Peabodys as well, including “The Colbert Report,” “Portlandia,” “Parks & Recreation,” “Homeland,” “Game of Thrones” and “Jeopardy!”

“The range of the Peabody Awards’ search for excellence has never been wider or deeper than this year,” said Horace Newcomb, Director of the Peabody Awards in a statement. “Local news organizations covered stories with international import as well as those significant within their communities. Documentaries and news reports on issues missed or overlooked by big organizations were available on websites. Comedians engaged in political actions. Radio proved again the power of the individual human voice. Drama took on issues of power and control. Images of disaster appeared alongside images of hope and freedom.”

The full winners list, after the jump.

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NBC News president Steve Capus and ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz were among the honorees at the 22nd annual First Amendment Dinner and Awards in Washington, DC last night.

Capus was presented with the First Amendment Leadership award by “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams. (Both arrived in DC after spending the afternoon at the NBC News upfront in New York.) In his speech, Capus called on news organizations to maintain public trust, implicitly referring to News Corporation’s News of the World hacking scandal:

Last fall, we witnessed a frightening example of a news organization allegedly abusing the privacy rights of citizens in order to access information on their cell phones, of all things. Regardless of how this all went down, it was truly a fall. It’s a scary example of what can happen when we lose sight of ethical journalism and the importance of trust.

Raddatz was presented the Leonard Zeidenberg First Amendment Award by her ABC colleague Jonathan Karl. Raddatz said international reporting is “something I’ve been passionate about, and I appreciate that ABC has been supportive of that passion over the years and invested in coverage.”

The RTDNF presented the Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence to the family of the late Andy Rooney. WGBH TV’s Emily Rooney accepted the award on her father’s behalf.

Fox News Channel anchor Kelly Wright was the evening’s emcee.

> Related, TVSpy: NY Stations Carry Live Coverage of Verdict in Rutgers Webcam Spying Case

Fox News Channel anchor Chris Wallace is the winner of the National Press Foundation’s Sol Taishoff Award for Broadcast Journalism.

Wallace accepted the award at the NPF’s annual dinner last night in Washington, DC. In his speech, he named his father Mike Wallace, his stepfather Bill Leonard, and Fox News CEO Roger Ailes as the greatest influences on his journalism career, according to Broadcasting & Cable.

Wallace also spoke with Boston.com about the honor. “’60 Minutes’ has won it — and Ted Koppel, Charlie Gibson, Brit Hume,” he said. “Quite frankly, some of the people I admire most in the business. To be invited to stand with those heavyweights means a lot. It really means a lot to me.”

ABC’s Pierre Thomas has been named NABJ journalist of the year.

“Pierre Thomas’ entire career has been a testament to his abilities as an incisive reporter whose storytelling is noteworthy,” said NABJ President Gregory Lee Jr. “We honor him now because during the past year his abilities have allowed him to be frontline, reporting on the stories that captivated us all.”

The NABJ singled out Thomas and his team for ABC’s coverage of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and for being “the very first person in the news division” to tell his colleagues why Pres. Obama had hastily called a Sunday night national address last May: it was to announce the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

Thomas has been with ABC since 2000. Before that he was CNN’s Justice Department correspondent and held several reporting positions at The Washington Post.

NBC News President Steve Capus and ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz are among the honorees at the RTDNF’s 22nd annual First Amendment Dinner and Awards two weeks from tonight. The event, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington, DC., honors journalists who have demonstrated excellence in journalism, especially for their work on behalf of press freedom. Also honored, Marci Burdick, a Senior VP at Schurz Communications and Jim Bohannon a news anchor and talk host for Dial Global Radio Networks.

Go here for more info and for tickets.

Long Island University announced the winners of its prestigious Polk Awards Tuesday morning, and among the winners are ABC News, Al Jazeera and Bloomberg.

ABC News’ Brian Ross and Anna Schecter won the award for television reporting for their “20/20″ investigation into inappropriate behavior at the Peace Corps.

Al Jazeera’s May Ying Walsh and Hassan Mahfood won in the television documentary category for their piece on Bahrain, “Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark.”

Bloomberg’s Ben Elgin, Alan Katz and Vernon Silver won for their reporting on how U.S. companies sell surveillance equipment to oppressive regimes overseas.

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MSNBC host Rachel Maddow has won the John Steinbeck Award, Galleycat reports. She is the third female recipient and the first recipient under the age of 40.

The award is given “to writers and artists whose work captures the spirit of Steinbeck’s empathy, commitment to democratic values, and belief in the dignity of people who by circumstance are pushed to the fringes.”

“Listening to Rachel Maddow is like listening to Walter Cronkite,” Steinbeck’s son, Thomas, said in a statement. “We have that kind of trust in her.”

ChildHelp, a non-profit that helps prevent and treat child abuse and neglect, honored HLN host Nancy Grace with its “Positive Impact in Media” award this weekend. Below, Grace is joined by “Today” co-host Kathie Lee Gifford, as well as singer Michael Bolton, actor John O’Hurley and his wife Lisa, as well as “Hell’s Kitchen” chef Scott Leibfried.

CBS News, NBC News and, for the first time, Al Jazeera English, have just been announced as winners of the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards.

CBS News “60 Minutes” will be honored for Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Lara Logan‘s report from the frontlines of the war in Afghanistan, and NBC News, along with Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel, will be honored for breaking news coverage of the Arab Spring uprisings.

Al Jazeera English will receive its first duPont silver baton for a documentary about shortcomings in the recovery efforts in Haiti and NOVA, on PBS, will be honored with a duPont award for a documentary on Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.

“This truly dynamic group of news organizations and journalists represent the best in broadcast and digital news reporting,” said Bill Wheatley, duPont Jury chair and former executive vice president of NBC News. “Journalists are using technology in new ways to effectively tell these important stories covering the news, issues and events that are critical to our society.”

In all, 14 awards will be presented during a ceremony on Thurs., Jan. 19. CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley and Michele Norris from NPR will host the 70th anniversary of the duPont awards, presented each year to honor excellence in broadcast and digital journalism.

TVSpy has more on several local news stations who will be honored with duPont Awards.