PBS NewsHour’s Coverage of the COVID-19 Pandemic and from the Darien Gap Named Peabody Award Nominees

ARLINGTON, VA (May 4, 2021) — PBS NewsHour today received two Peabody Award nominations for its global and economic coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as its 2020 reporting on the desperate journey faced by migrants along the Darien Gap. Of this year’s 60 nominees, 30 Peabody Award recipients will be announced in June. The George Foster Peabody Awards are administered by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.

PBS NewsHour’s Desperate Journey

The Darien Gap, which straddles northern Colombia and southern Panama, is named for the 66-mile long break of the PanAmerican highway. This vast expanse has become the nexus of one of the world’s longest, most dangerous migration routes. As Europe and the U.S. closed their doors to asylum-seekers, thousands were pushed to travel through South America to reach the U.S. But the only way to head north into Panama is by traversing one of the world’s most-hostile jungles – by foot. In this two-part series, NewsHour documented the extraordinary journey of migrants, as they converge in the Darien Gap from many places to tell the larger story of the global migration crisis. 

Credits: senior foreign affairs producer Morgan Till; special correspondent Nadja Drost; producers Bruno Federico and Carlos Villalón; videographer Bruno Federico; and executive producer Sara Just.

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PBS NewsHour’s Coverage of COVID-19: “Global Pandemic” and “MAKING SENSE: The Victims of the COVID Economy”

PBS NewsHour’s global dispatches sought to tell stories that touched on the diversity of response to the pandemic worldwide. Stories of success and innovation; of tyranny and oppression; and of deep sadness and loss, from five continents.

Credits: senior foreign affairs producer Morgan Till; deputy senior producer Dan Sagalyn; producers Layla Quran, Ali Rogin, Trine Villeman, Frank Carlson, Herminia Fernandez, Nina Maria Potts, Rachel Silverman, Ulises Escamilla, Crystal Roh, Keith Park, and Ahmed Baider; editors Hamada Hanoura, Eric O’Connor, Jon Miles, Bob Hartman, Dan Knapp, John Morgan, Mark Anderson, Matt Leeke, and Abubaker Muwonge; videographers Tilo Gummel, Abdulrazaq Alshani, Leon Kigozi, Mohammed Khaled, and Omar Garcia; foreign affairs and defense correspondent Nick Schifrin; special correspondents Jane Ferguson, Malcolm Brabant, Marcia Biggs, Bruce Harrison, Michael Baleke, and Max Duncan; and executive producer Sara Just.

In “Making Sense: The Victims of the COVID Economy” PBS NewsHour’s business and economics team covered the enormous repercussions of COVID-19 from a variety of angles. Expert interviews and personal testimony helped paint a vivid picture of what was unfolding in businesses and in people’s lives. The result is an intimate, incisive portrait of an economic disaster happening in real-time.

Credits: senior producer for national affairs Murrey Jacobson; producers Diane Lincoln Estes and Lee Koromvokis; business and economics correspondent Paul Solman; videographers Denis Levkovich and Kevin McAleese; editor John Morgan; and executive producer Sara Just.