Athens, Ga. — The Peabody Awards at the University of Georgia has appointed Marcy Carsey, Herman Gray, Kathy Im, Kim Masters, Mark McKinnon, and John Seigenthaler to its Board of Jurors.
In a related move, the new submission period for Peabody Awards entries will open on October 13, 2016 and run through January 9, 2017. Entries made during this time will be considered for the 76th annual Peabody Awards which will be announced next spring. The announcements were made by Peabody Awards Director Jeffrey Jones.
Marcy Carsey teamed with Tom Werner to form Carsey Werner Company, which produced hit shows including The Cosby Show, Roseanne, Third Rock from the Sun, That 70’s Show, and Grace Under Fire. In 1996 Carsey and Werner were inducted into the Hall of Fame of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and the Broadcasting and Cable Magazine Hall of Fame. In 1999 they were given the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement, placing them in the Museum of the American Dream as two of the 20th century's most extraordinary achievers. Carsey also received the Lucy Award from Women in Film. She began her show business career as an NBC tour guide, and became a production assistant on The Tonight Show. She later served as SVP of Prime-Time Series for ABC-TV.
Herman Gray is a former radio producer and jazz announcer whose interest in media, culture, and politics is wide ranging. Gray is Professor of Sociology at UC Santa Cruz where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in media and television studies, cultural theory and politics, and Black cultural studies. Gray’s research is on the role of television, media, and culture in organizing, sustaining, and challenging racial projects. He has published widely in scholarly journals in the areas of black cultural politics, media, and television studies. His books on jazz, television, and black cultural politics include Producing Jazz, Watching Race, and Cultural Moves.
Kathy Im in her role as director oversees investments in the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s enduring commitment to journalism and media. The program, which aims to strengthen U.S. democracy by building a vibrant and independent media sector, works in three areas: professional nonprofit reporting, nonfiction multimedia storytelling, and participatory civic media. During Im’s tenure, MacArthur has contributed to numerous impactful and award-winning investigations and documentaries, and important innovations in the production and distribution of public service journalism. Im recently co-authored an essay, “Unrestricted funding vital for independent journalism,” for the American Press Institute. She is also a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow, a civic program for Chicago leaders, and a board member of Media Impact Funders, a national association for journalism and media funders.
Kim Masters is editor-at-large of The Hollywood Reporter and host of KCRW’s The Business. A former correspondent for NPR, she has also served as a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, TIME, and Esquire, and was a staff reporter for The Washington Post. She is the author of The Keys to the Kingdom: The Rise of Michael Eisner and the Fall of Everybody Else, and co-author (with Nancy Griffin) of Hit & Run: How Jon Peters and Peter Gruber Took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood. Masters was named Entertainment Journalist of the Year by the Los Angeles Press Club in June 2001 and Print Journalist of the Year by the Los Angeles Press Club in June 2012. In May 2012, The Business received a Gracie Award for Outstanding Talk Show.
Mark McKinnon is a political advisor, reform advocate, media columnist, and television producer. He is the co-creator, co-executive producer, and co-host of Showtime’s real-time documentary series of the 2016 presidential election: The Circus: The Greatest Political Show on Earth. He was the chief media advisor to five successful presidential primary and general election campaigns, and is cofounder of No Labels, an organization dedicated to bipartisanship, civil dialogue, and political problem solving. For 20 years, he worked at Public Strategies, Inc., where he was an owner and vice chair. In 2010, Public Strategies merged with Hill+Knowlton Strategies, where he served as global vice chair and currently serves as an advisor to the firm.
John Seigenthaler, Finn Partners Senior Counsel, is an award-winning communications professional and recognized as one of the most skilled “story-tellers” in the broadcast industry. He helps clients tell their stories creating visual and thought-provoking narratives that positively impact target audiences. Seigenthaler, a former NBC News anchor, develops strategic communications plans for corporations and high profile C-level executives. His expertise spans Crisis Communications, Social Media Strategy, Media Interview Direction/Training, and Video Production. Seigenthaler is a former partner at Seigenthaler Public Relations, now DVL Seigenthaler, a Finn Partners Company. As an award-winning journalist, Seigenthaler anchored NBC Nightly News Weekend edition for almost a decade.
Board of Jurors Mission
The Peabody Board of Jurors is made up of media industry professionals, media scholars, critics, and journalists, each appointed by the Peabody Director for a renewable three-year term of service. This mix of top-level thought leaders from varied backgrounds, all versed in media excellence, ensures that the list of winning programs will reflect the interest of a broad cross-section of audiences, rather than just media insiders.
The single criteria for receiving a Peabody Award is excellence. Toward that end, jurors ask themselves: Does this story matter? Is this a story that needs telling? Does it inform us as citizens or help us empathize with one another?
The existing Board of Jurors includes: Eric Deggans, NPR TV Critic; Eddie Garrett (chair), EVP and head of strategy for Weber Shandwick; Jonathan Gray, professor of media and cultural studies at UW-Madison; John Huey, former editor-in-chief of TIME Inc.; Henry Jenkins, professor of communication, journalism, cinematic arts and education at USC; Simon Kilmurry, executive director of the International Documentary Association; Martha Nelson, global editor-in-chief of Yahoo Media; Monica Pearson, radio show host, columnist, and retired WSB-TV news anchor; Marquita Pool-Eckert, former senior producer of CBS Sunday Morning; Naibe Reynoso, host and producer for Ora TV; and Bird Runningwater, director, Native American and Indigenous Program at Sundance Institute.
Peabody Awards
Peabody is an organization dedicated to invigorating people through the power of stories. Founded in 1940, Peabody honors and extends conversation around stories that matter in radio, television and digital media through symposiums, screenings, podcasts, and an annual awards ceremony considered to be among the most prestigious in the entertainment industry. Peabody gives awards for news, entertainment, documentaries, children’s programming, education, interactive programming, and public service, in turn, encouraging the media industries to reach for and achieve the highest standards. Peabody is administered through the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Georgia. For more information, visit peabodyawards.com or follow @PeabodyAwards on Twitter.
Grady College
Established in 1915, the UGA Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication offers undergraduate majors in journalism, advertising, public relations and entertainment and media studies. The college offers several graduate degrees and is home to the Peabody Awards, internationally recognized as one of the most prestigious prizes for excellence in electronic media. For more information, see www.grady.uga.edu or follow @UGAGrady on Twitter.
