Excellence required for campus awards program
February 17, 2010 by SARA CALDWELL
Filed under News
One awards program at the University is searching for excellence — not excellence defined by any standards, but excellence on its own terms.
The George Foster Peabody Awards program, founded in the University’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, distinguishes outstanding accomplishments in public service by television stations, radio stations, networks, producing organizations, individuals and the World Wide Web.
“There is no best documentary, best entertainment, best news,” said Horace Newcomb, director of the program. “It’s all compared against every other entry.”
Newcomb said he has seen very strong material from this year’s submissions.
The Peabody Board, comprised of journalists and professionals from around the country, will meet the week of March 23 to discuss which entries will move forward in the competition.
CBS and ABC News stations are among the many programs in this year’s competition. Programs and individuals submit what they consider to be their best work from the previous year, Newcomb said.
“We start at such a high level that it makes it difficult for us,” he said. “But that difficulty is what makes it rewarding and what makes the award so important.”
Grady received close to 1,000 entries this year, and sifting through the large amount of submissions is a long and detailed process, he said. To help with the demand, 30 committees on campus go through entries specific to an assigned focus. Each campus committee consists of two University faculty members and one student judge.
Catherine Morgan, a senior advertising major from Boca Raton, Fla., is a student judge on the committee for Children and Youth Television.
Working alongside University faculty, Morgan reviewed 27 video entries and went through the selection process to narrow down possible winners.
“We pull really strong contenders — if it stands out and if it’s done something previous entries haven’t done,” Morgan said.
Other campus committees focus on themes relating to newscasting, documentary and radio segments.
The entries for Morgan’s committee focused primarily on youthful entertainment. Although a select few entries in her group tackled heavy issues such as children in rehabilitation, most of the entries were more animated, Morgan said.
Though entertainment seemed to be the main theme in the submissions, Morgan noticed another trend.
“There was a larger cultural awareness. A lot of cartoons are introducing different cultures to children,” she said.
Peter McDonald, a sophomore communications and music business major from Decatur, was a student judge on the Entertainment Committee.
“We met three times a week and watched a lot of sitcoms — like ‘Monk,’ ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ and ‘Flash Forward,’” McDonald said. “It’s been really fun.”
Newcomb and the Peabody Board will consider the committee recommendations in March, but they have the power to overturn recommendations they do not agree with. In some instances, the Board may review entries the committees did not consider contenders, Newcomb said.
Award winners will be announced March 31, and competitors can also find out the results via a satellite uplink on the Web.
