1997 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.

State Farm: Good Neighbor or Bad Faith?:

• KGO Radio, San Francisco
• A commercial radio station's three-month investigation into the secretive world of insurance companies following three major California disasters.

Flood of the Century:

• KFGO, Fargo, N.D.
• Comprehensive, around-the-clock news coverage in a time of crisis with significant impact on the community.

Will the Circle Be Unbroken?:

• Southern Regional Council, Atlanta
• A rich, multilayered tapestry of oral histories of the Civil Rights Movement, brought to life with vivid sound portraits provided by the music of the times.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: The Cost of Freedom:

• Focus on the Family, Colorado Springs, Colo.
• A radio drama that interweaves classic elements of the form and modern techniques to tell an inspiring personal tale of courage and heroism.

Jazz from Lincoln Center:

• Murray Street Enterprise, New York, for National Public Radio
• A celebration of the most American musical art form, marked by spectacular studio sound technique and informative interviews.

Military Medicine:

• WRAL–TV, Raleigh, N.C.
• An investigative series of significant consequence in bringing military medical practitioners in line with national standards.

The Trial of Pol Pot:

• ABC News/Nightline
• Powerful and exclusive video by correspondent Nate Thayer in Cambodia is given important background and context by Ted Koppel and the staff of Nightline.

Richard Rodrigues Essays on American Life:

• The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS
• Thought-provoking, stimulating and inventive essays and reflections on contemporary America from a consistently insightful and eloquent source.

The Castro:

• KQED–TV, San Francisco
• An informative, unusual and provocative look at San Francisco's Castro District that reveals how one neighborhood became the cornerstone for a social and political movement.

Liberty! The American Revolution:

• KTCA, Twin Cities Public Television, St. Paul, Minn., in association with Middlemarch Films
• A historical documentary about the birth of a nation, told with remarkable clarity and passion.

Hello Mr. President:

• Barraclough Carey Productions for Channel 4, London, and The History Channel, New York
• A unique inside account of the first 100 days of the presidency of Lyndon Baines Johnson, informed by dramatic recreations and the use of never-before-heard tapes of telephone conversations.

A Healthy Baby Girl:

• P.O.V./The American Documentary; a co-presentation with the Independent Television Service
• Using a video diary format over five years, filmmaker Judith Helfand documents her battle with cancer and her commitment to draw nationwide attention to the issue of toxic exposure.

Look for Me Here: 299 Days in the Life of Nora Lenihan:

• New England Cable News, Newton, Mass.
• The first Peabody Award in local cable. An intense and intimate portrait of a woman facing death with courage, grace and humor, and a revealing look at the hospice alternative to traditional and end-of-life care.

In the Land of the Deaf:

• Les Films d'Ici, La Sept-Cinema, Centre European Cinematographique RhoneAlpes, presented on Bravo/The Independent Film Channel
• A documentary feature film from France that takes viewers on a journey through the world of silence inhabited by an estimated 130 million people worldwide.

Blue Note: A History of Modern Jazz:

• Euroarts Entertainment, OHG & SDR arte, in association with Bravo and Denmark Radio
• The story of Alfred Lion and Frank Wolff and their record label, marked by painstaking preservation and restoration of masterful performances plus testimonials from artists and executives who knew them.

Divided Highways: The Interstates and the Transformation of American Life:

• Florentine Films/Hott Productions and WETA–TV, Washington, D.C.
• A documentary that turns the seemingly mundane development of interstate highways into a transcendent statement about the role of the car and the highway in our national consciousness.

The American Experience: The Presidents Series:

• WGBH–TV, Boston
• A significant contribution to our understanding of 20th-century presidents, marked by superior production, research, insight and understanding.

The American Experience: Troublesome Creek—A Midwestern:

• WGBH–TV, Boston
• A poignant personal story of one family's struggle to maintain their farm as massive foreclosures sweep the nation.

The Nazis: A Warning from History:

• BBC, London
• A surprisingly new and informative exposé of the rise and fall of the Third Reich, made possible by access to previously unpublished documents, discoveries of archival film and unique access to interviewees from the former Communist bloc.

Body Doubles: The Twin Experience:

• Home Box Office and Carlton Television, in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
• Filmmaker Antony Thomas' moving and humorous depiction of the life of twins challenges preconceptions about the role of environment and genetics in human behavior.

City Arts:

• Thirteen/WNET, New York
• A celebration of the full panoply of arts and culture in the New York City area that makes the art scene accessible to viewers of all ages and backgrounds.

Ellen: The Puppy Episode:

• ABC, The Black/Marlens Company in association with Touchstone Television
• A landmark moment in television history notable not only for the frequent laughter the situation provoked but also for portraying the importance of tenderness and caring to all relationships.

Homicide: Life on the Street:

• NBC, Fatima Productions, New York
• The continuing excellence of this television dramatic series is underscored by episodes like “The Subway,” a harrowing hour of intelligence and humanity.

Nothing Sacred:

• ABC, Sarabande Productions in association with 20th Century Fox TV
• A provocative and thoughtful drama series that provides an honest portrayal of the complexity of faith in the modern era.

Mobil Masterpiece Theatre: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall:

• WGBH–TV, Boston, and BBC, London
• A faithful adaptation of the Anne Brontë novel that takes a stark psychological approach to this Victorian-era story of a woman fleeing an abusive husband.

Don King: Only in America:

• HBO Pictures and the Thomas Carter Company
• Superior performances match with stylistic inventiveness to tell the tale of the rise to international prominence of boxing's most famous promoter.

George Wallace:

• TNT, a Mark Carliner Production
• A perceptive Faustian saga of the rise, fall and ultimate redemption of one of our most controversial political figures.

The Eddie Files:

• FASE Productions, Los Angeles, for PBS
• Inspirational children's television that uses a unique blend of comedy, drama, engaging documentary and skilled teaching to bring classroom learning into real world experience.

Wishbone:

• Big Feats! Entertainment, an entertainment unit of Lyrick Studios, for PBS
• A series for public television that introduces children to classic literature with inventiveness, wit and imagination.

Nickelodeon: The Big Help:

• Nickelodeon, New York
• An effective multimedia, multi-year public service campaign that encourages and empowers children to volunteer in their communities in the United States and throughout the world.

CBS News: Sunday Morning:

• CBS, New York
• A program of ongoing excellence and distinction made even more noteworthy by the seamless transition made from the late Charles Kuralt to Charles Osgood as helmsman.

Carol Marin:

• In recognition of nearly two decades of distinguished investigative reporting that demonstrates a personal commitment to ethics and integrity in local broadcast journalism.

CBS News: 60 Minutes:

• CBS, New York
• A show that reminds us in four episodes (A Very Special Brain, Big Man Big Voice, Veronica Guerin, West Side Story) of the value of the affirmative spirit, the value of industry and effort, and about fighting the good fight in a good way.

R.E. “Ted” Turner:

• A titanic figure in modern electronic communication whose pioneering efforts in station ownership, cable and satellite, entertainment and sports programming, and broadcast journalism have revolutionized media in America and worldwide.