Boston public media producer GBH has been recognized with five George Foster Peabody Award nominations for outstanding productions released in 2021, the most nominations for any public media producer this year. The nominations recognize MASTERPIECE’s The Long Song, an adaptation of Andrea Levy’s novel about the end of slavery in Jamaica; as well as several FRONTLINE films: A Thousand Cuts, an inside look at the threat to a free press in the Philippines; American Insurrection, an investigation of the rise of extremisim in America through the lens of the assault on the U.S. Capitol; Escaping Eritrea, an undercover investigation into one of the world’s most repressive regimes; and The Healthcare Divide, an examination of growing inequities in American healthcare exposed by COVID-19.
Each year, the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors honor excellence in storytelling that reflects the social issues and the emerging voices of our day. This year’s 60 nominees were chosen by a unanimous vote of 19 jurors from over 1,200 entries from television, podcasts/radio and the web in entertainment; news, documentary, arts, children’s/youth and public service programming. The 30 winners of the 82nd annual Peabody Award winners will be announced during virtual ceremonies taking place from June 6-9.
“As one of the nation’s leading public media producers, GBH embraces the responsibility to uphold the freedom of the press, whether through investigation of extremism here in the U.S. or an expose of authoritarian regimes abroad,” said Jon Abbott, president and CEO of GBH. “The teams at FRONTLINE and MASTERPIECE continually produce exceptional work, educating and inspiring the audience while shining a light on diverse and underreported topics. I extend my congratulations to everyone involved for this well-deserved recognition.”
GBH’s 2021 Peabody Award Nominees by category are:
Entertainment
- MASTERPIECE: The Long Song. Based on Andrea Levy’s award-winning novel about the end of slavery in Jamaica, The Long Song centers its story on July (Tamara Lawrance) a young enslaved person working on a sugarcane plantation with a demanding, capricious mistress, Caroline Mortimer (Hayley Atwell). The lives of both women are changed when a new overseer, Robert Goodwin (Jack Lowden) arrives at the plantation following the Christmas Rebellion of 1831, which resulted in the end of slavery in Jamaica and other English colonies. The Long Song was produced by Heyday Television, which is part of Universal International Studios. The three-part miniseries aired on January 31-February 14, 2021.
Documentaries
- FRONTLINE: A Thousand Cuts. With press freedom under threat in the Philippines, A Thousand Cuts went inside the escalating war between the government and the press. The feature documentary followed renowned journalist Maria Ressa, who has become a top target of President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on the news media; sheshe won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize. The documentary was directed by Ramona S. Diaz and premiered on PBS in January 2021, following a theatrical release in the summer of 2020 by PBS Distribution.
News
- FRONTLINE: American Insurrection. In a collaboration with ProPublica and Berkeley Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program, FRONTLINE investigated the rise of extremism in America in the shadow of the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. From director Rick Rowley, correspondent A.C. Thompson and producers Karim Hajj and Jacqueline Soohen, the 90-minute film examined how far-right extremist groups evolved in the wake of the deadly 2017 Charlottesville rally and the contemporary threat they posed. American Insurrection originally premiered on PBS in April 2021, and was honored with a George Polk Award in February 2022.
- FRONTLINE: Escaping Eritrea. FRONTLINE’s May 2021 program was an unprecedented undercover investigation into one of the world’s most repressive regimes. In collaboration with the UK’s Channel 4, Escaping Eritrea shed new light on shocking allegations of torture, arbitrary detention and indefinite forced conscription. Over five years, producer and director Evan Williams gathered secretly shot footage from inside the country and interviewed people who’ve escaped.
- FRONTLINE: The Healthcare Divide. In collaboration with NPR and American University’s Investigative Reporting Workshop, The Healthcare Divide examined growing inequities in American healthcare exposed by COVID-19, probing how pressure to increase profits and uneven government support widened the divide between rich and poor hospitals, endangering care for low-income populations. The documentary premiered on PBS in May of 2021 and was recently honored with a 2022 Writers Guild Award.
About GBH
GBH is the leading multiplatform creator for public media in America. As the largest producer of content for PBS and partner to NPR and PRX, GBH delivers compelling experiences, stories and information to audiences wherever they are. GBH produces digital and broadcast programming that engages, illuminates and inspires, through drama and science, history, arts, culture and journalism. It is the creator of such signature programs as MASTERPIECE, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, FRONTLINE, NOVA, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, Arthur and Molly of Denali and a catalog of streaming series, podcasts and on-demand video. GBH’s television channels include GBH 2, GBH 44, GBH Kids and national services WORLD and Create. With studios and a newsroom headquartered in Boston, GBH reaches across New England with GBH 89.7, Boston’s Local NPR; CRB Classical 99.5; and CAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station. Dedicated to making media accessible to and inclusive of our diverse culture, GBH is a pioneer in delivering media to those who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired. GBH creates curriculum-based digital content for educators nationwide with PBS LearningMedia and has been recognized with hundreds of the nation’s premier broadcast, digital and journalism awards. Find more information at gbh.org.
