1996 George Foster Peabody Awards

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

The Peabody Awards, administered by the University of Georgia's Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications, honor excellence in both radio and television broadcasting.

Black Radio: Telling It Like It Was

• Radio Smithsonian, Washington D.C. for Public Radio International
• An important 13-part documentary about radio's crucial role in the evolution of America's black communities

Remorse: The 14 Stories of Eric Morse

• Sound Portrait Productions, New York, for National Public Radio
• A gripping and profound investigation into the death of a young boy in a Chicago housing project, powerfully reported by LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman, two 16-year-old residents of the project

This American Life

• WBEZ-FM, Chicago
• A series of eclectic and affecting radio documentaries presenting many facets of life in modern America

Kinetic City Super Crew

• American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington D.C.
• An entertaining and effective children's radio series that teaches essential lessons about science and technology

Peter Gzowski

• CBC Radio, Toronto
• A personal Peabody Award to a distinguished and influential broadcaster noted for consistently delivering reasoned debate and engaging conversation to his listeners

Who's Guarding the Guardians?

• WCVB-TV, Boston
• Comprehensive and important investigative news reporting that documents the ease by which court-appointed guardians can exploit mentally ill wards of the state

Newsnight — Afghanistan

• BBC News, London
• Hard-hitting, remarkable and revealing frontline reporting by foreign affairs editor John Simpson from several war-torn regions of Afghanistan

Passport to Kill

• WNBC-TV, New York
• A powerful six-month-long series by reporter Ti-Hua Chang that tracks suspected police killers who flee to the Dominican Republic, where they are shielded by outmoded extradition laws and rampant corruption

Vote for Me: Politics in America

• Center for New American Media, Midnight Films and WETA-TV, Washington D.C.
• A wry, humorous and insightful behind-the-scenes glimpse of grassroots politics across the United States

The Celluloid Closet

• Telling Pictures, HBO, Channel 4, London, and ZDF-Arté (Germany/France)
• A revealing exposé of homosexuality in the cinema whose production matches the best of the Hollywood films it depicts

Frontline: The Gate of Heavenly Peace

• Long Bow Group Inc. and Independent Television Service for Frontline/WGBH-TV, Boston
• An extraordinary compilation of the historical events and issues surrounding the student democracy movement in China that exploded at Tiananmen in 1989 and reverberates today

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills

• HBO, Creative Thinking International Ltd., New York
• Unflinching crime reporting in the aftermath of three horrible murders in Arkansas that digs into the deeper issues of disaffected youth, small-town prejudices, failures of the criminal justice system and the role of the media

KOMO-TV, Seattle

• For excellence in local television programming, as represented by War on Children and Earth Agenda: River of Bears, The Return of the Eagle and Lolita: Spirit in the Water

Frontline: The Choice '96

• Frontline/WGBH-TV, Boston, and Helen Whitney Productions
• An enthralling dual biography of the major presidential candidates that glistens and glimmers with informed insight into their shared and dissimilar backgrounds

NOVA: Odyssey of Life

• NOVA/WGBH-TV, Boston; Agaton Film and Television; Swedish Television, SVT1; ZDF-Arté (Germany/France); and Channel 4, London
• Captivating and compelling microphotography that presents an altogether new view of our evolutionary history

People's Century

• BBC, London, and WGBH-TV, Boston
• An extraordinary international documentary series that recaps the political and social shifts of the 20th century, vividly described by the ordinary people who lived through them

The American Experience: The Battle Over Citizen Kane

• The American Experience and Lennon Documentary Group/WGBH-TV, Boston
• An impeccably made program presenting a new story about one of the most important films ever made

The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century

• KCET-TV, Los Angeles, and BBC, London
• A powerful examination of the poignant and permanent ways in which World War I changed the course of world history

Survivors of the Holocaust

• Turner Original Productions, Atlanta, and Steven Spielberg in association with Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation
• Testimonials by survivors, archival footage, original music, personal photographs and artifacts bind together this Holocaust documentary that serves, as Steven Spielberg has said, “as a monument to remembering the past and always examining our present.”

The X-Files

• Fox, Ten Thirteen Productions in association with Twentieth Television
• An innovative and creative dramatic series that is reinvigorating the form and bringing new vitality to prime-time television entertainment

Journey of the African-American Athlete

• Home Box Office Sports, New York
• A major contribution to understanding the totality of American history by using the struggles and achievements of African-American athletes as a metaphor

Law & Order

• NBC, Wolf Films in association with Universal Television
• A provocative and intelligent entertainment series that for seven years has provided stirring insight into core social issues

Pride and Prejudice

• A&E Television Networks and BBC, London
• An outstanding drama, this lavish miniseries is faithful to and thoroughly evocative of the Jane Austen classic.

The Simpsons

• Fox, Gracie Films, Los Angeles, in association with Twentieth Television
• For eight seasons, The Simpsons has offered biting satire as social commentary and still delivers humor and insight, on many levels, for audiences of all ages.

NYPD Blue

• ABC, Steven Bochco Productions
• An extraordinary series that transcends other police dramas by confronting the often conflicted circumstances of homicide detectives in New York City

Mobil Masterpiece Theatre's House of Cards, To Play the King and The Final Cut

• BBC, London, and WGBH-TV, Boston
• Ian Richardson masterfully plays the scheming but charismatic British Prime Minister Frances Urquhart in an unrivaled satirical trilogy.

How Do You Spell God?

• Home Box Office, New York
• A program for children and adults alike that sheds light on the common values that link people of all faiths

Wise Up!

• Carlton Television for Channel 4, London
• A newsmagazine with stories delivered by young reporters who are encouraged to share their interests, attitudes and serious concerns in a way that entertains and educates their peers

Edith Ann's Christmas

• ABC, Tomlin and Wagner Theatricalz, Kurtz & Friends, Los Angeles
• Lily Tomlin's and Jane Wagner's Christmas tale produced with the timeless look of children's animated programming but that confronts today's family problems

One to One: Mentoring

• WCCO-TV, Minneapolis
• Making an important public service commitment, WCCO's campaign effectively promotes the need for more mentors to intervene in the lives of children.

Bud Greenspan

• A personal Peabody Award to Bud Greenspan, who in chronicling the Olympic Games has created his own genre of sports documentary filmmaking, marked by exceptional storytelling, unbending integrity and a commitment to excellence