Fox Chicago wins Peabody Award for Derrion Albert coverage

Subject:

Comments:
: WFLD-Ch. 32's coverage of the September beating death of 16-year-old Fenger High School honor student Derrion Albert has earned the station the University of Georgia's prestigious Peabody Award. : It is Chicago's fifth Peabody honor in four years. : The Fox-owned station's acquisition and airing of graphic amateur video of the Albert assault captured such widespread attention for the issue of youth crime and gang violence that, within days of its first broadcast, President Barack Obama announced he was sending Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan to Chicago to look into the matter. : "Obviously, it's of great concern to the president, as somebody who lives in Chicago, but would and should be a concern for every American," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said at the time. : In honoring WFLD, which already won a National Headliner Award for its continuing coverage of the Albert beating, the Peabody committee noted the national attention the station received for the video but said "the greater feat was its comprehensive follow-up coverage of the suspects, the legal process and prevalence of similar violence." : Channel 32 was among 36 broadcasters, cable and Webcasters, producing organizations and individuals singled out for distinguished achievement and meritorious service. Other winners included the ABC comedy "Modern Family," SesameStreet.org, Steve Kroft's "60 Minutes" report "The Cost of Dying," National Public Radio's Diane Rehm, the Fox series "Glee," Korean Broadcasting's "Noodle Road: Connecting Asia’s Kitchens" and the HBO Sports documentary "Thrilla in Manila." : : WFLD acquired and broadcast graphic amateur video of Albert being beaten to death last September, a group striking him with boards and continuing to assault him even as he stumbled to the ground and lay on the sidewalk. : The video was shot by the brother of a female student, who approached WFLD with a copy. The station paid a typical freelance fee of $300 to obtain the tape exclusively, Carol Fowler, the station's news director, said at the time. : Channel 32 delayed airing the tape for a day at the request of Chicago police, who said they wanted more time to seek suspects. But there was considerable debate within WFLD whether to show it at all. : "I've got to tell you as news director it certainly gave me pause," Fowler said in a November National Public Radio interview. "My first thought was, how can we possibly put this on TV? But one thing I have learned over the years is that one or two managers shouldn't be making a decision this important. You include the whole newsroom, to the degree you can, in the discussion. And that’s literally what we did." : Fowler told "On the Media" host Bob Garfield host that it was reporter Darlene Hill who ultimately convinced her the video needed to air. : "There’s a lot of lip service paid to, well, these kids have to walk through unbelievable circumstances to get to and from school," Fowler said."This shows exactly what it is like. We had a journalistic obligation to air it. How could you not? We just had to." : Fowler told the Chicago Tribune in September that the main reason to air the video was "because it communicated in a powerful way the danger these kids face getting to and from school every day. It's a sad commentary. We felt it was our obligation to put it on the air in a responsible manner." : Chicago Public Radio’s "Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!" was honored two years ago, sandwiched between "This American Life" victories for "The Giant Pool of Money" last year and "Habeas Schmabeas" earlier. Also earning a Peabody last year was "Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita," a documentary from Chicago-based Kartemquin Educational Films and director-producer Maria Finitzo that aired on PBS' "Independent Lens" series. : A full list of the winners of the 69th annual Peabody Awards, to be given out May 17 in New York, is below: : : Modern Family (ABC) Twentieth Century Fox Television in association with Levitan Lloyd Productions : The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: An Evening with Archbishop Desmond Tutu (CBS) Worldwide Pants, Inc. : Noodle Road: Connecting Asia’s Kitchens (KBS1 TV) Korean Broadcasting System : A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains (ABC) ABC News : SesameStreet.org Sesame Workshop : BBC World News America: Unique Broadcast, Unique Perspective (BBC America) BBC World News America, BBC America : The Cost of Dying (CBS) CBS News 60 Minutes : Independent Lens: Between the Folds (PBS) Green Fuse Films, ITVS : Glee (Fox) Twentieth Century Fox Television : The OxyContin Express (Current TV) Vanguard on Current TV : npr.org National Public Radio : Diane Rehm : The Day that Lehman Died (BBC World Service) A Goldhawk Essential Production/BBC World Service Production : In Treatment (HBO) Leverage, Closest to the Hole Productions and Sheleg in association with HBO Entertainment : Inventing LA: The Chandlers and Their Times (PBS) Peter Jones Productions : No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (HBO) Mirage Enterprises and Cinechicks in association with The Weinstein Company, BBC and HBO Entertainment : Sabotaging the System (CBS) CBS News 60 Minutes : Brick City (Sundance Channel) Sundance Channel, Brick City TV LLC : Thrilla in Manila (HBO) Darlow Smithson Production, HBO Sports, HBO Documentary Films : Frontline: The Madoff Affair (PBS) Frontline, RAINmedia : I-Witness: Ambulansiyang de Paa (GMA Network) : GMA Network, Inc., Philippines : Independent Lens: The Order of Myths (PBS) Folly River, Inc., Netpoint Productions, Lucky Hat Entertainment, ITVS : Hard Times (OPB Radio) Oregon Public Broadcasting : Iran & the West Brook Lapping Productions for the BBC in association with National Geographic Channel, France 3, NHK, VPRO, SVT, RTBF, VRT, NRK, SRC/CBC, DRTV SBS, YLE, TVP and Press TV : Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson: Covering Afghanistan (NPR) National Public Radio : The Great Textbook War (West Virginia Public Broadcasting) Terry Kay Productions : Mind the Gap: Why Good Schools Are Failing Black Students (KLCC Radio) Nancy Solomon : Endgame (PBS) Daybreak/Channel 4/Target Entertainment, Presented on PBS/MASTERPIECE by WGBH Boston : Sichuan Earthquake: One Year On (Now-Broadband TV News Channel) Now-TV News, Hong Kong : BART Shooting (KTVU-TV) KTVU, Oakland, Calif. : American Masters: Jerome Robbins – Something to Dance About (PBS) Thirteen/WNET : Chronicle: Paul’s Gift (WYFF-TV) WYFF 4, Greenville, S.C. : Under Fire: Discrimination and Corruption in the Texas National Guard (KHOU-TV) KHOU-TV, Houston, Tex., Belo, Inc. : Derrion Albert Beating (WFLD-TV) Fox Chicago News: WFLD-TV and myfoxchicago.com : Where Giving Life Is a Death Sentence (BBC America) BBC World News America, BBC America, BBC World News : Up in Smoke (KCET-TV) KCET, Los Angeles

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:

Enter verification code: