FRONTLINE Honored with Two duPont-Columbia Award Nominations

Today, Columbia Journalism School named two FRONTLINE documentaries — Democracy on Trial and Putin vs. the Press — 2025 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award finalists. 

According to the duPont-Columbia Awards website, the prestigious awards, established in 1942, “uphold the highest standards in journalism by honoring winners annually, informing the public about those journalists’ contributions and supporting journalism education and innovation.”

Directed by veteran FRONTLINE filmmaker Michael Kirk and produced by Kirk, Mike Wiser and Vanessa Fica, the January 2024 documentary Democracy on Trial investigates the roots of the criminal cases against now President-elect Donald Trump that stemmed from his 2020 election loss. DuPont-Columbia judges recognized the film for “interweaving testimony and video from the Jan. 6 committee hearing with chilling archive and insightful interviews,” adding that FRONTLINE delivered “a searing and comprehensive report.”

The September 2023 documentary Putin vs. the Press, from director Patrick Forbes and producers Yelena Durden-Smith and Vanessa Tuson, tells the story of Nobel Peace Prize-winner Dmitry Muratov as he fights to defend free speech in President Vladimir Putin’s Russia. DuPont-Columbia judges praised the documentary, produced in association with Channel 4, for its “unprecedented access” as it followed Muratov in his fight to “preserve his newspaper, as his reporters were murdered, exiled, and targeted.”

“We are grateful to Columbia Journalism School for naming Democracy on Trial and Putin vs. the Press as duPont-Columbia finalists,” says Aronson-Rath. “These nominations reflect our journalistic commitment to telling complex stories with thoughtful and nuanced reporting. We share this great news with our partners at Channel 4, as well as with GBH, PBS, CPB and our viewers who support our storytelling every day.”

According to Columbia’s official announcement, PBS led the group of duPont-Columbia Award finalists with four nominations: two from FRONTLINE, one American Experience and one American Masters. The winners of the 2025 duPont-Columbia Awards will be announced on Jan. 22, 2025. You can read a full list of this year’s finalists here.

You can watch both our duPont-Columbia Award-nominated documentaries below or find them on YouTube, in the PBS App and on the PBS Documentaries Prime Video Channel.

Democracy on Trial (credits)

Putin vs. the Press (credits)