NOVA’s ‘Decoding COVID-19’ receives 2021 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award
The PBS science series was recognized for its 2020 documentary during last night’s ceremony “honoring the best in journalism.”
Image courtesy of the Alfred I. duPont Award committee.
The Columbia School of Journalism announced yesterday that the PBS science series NOVA was the recipient of a 2021 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award for its 2020 documentary “Decoding COVID-19.”
NOVA was one of 15 winners of this year’s awards, presented during a special virtual ceremony highlighting outstanding reporting in the public interest. The hour-long event, “The duPont-Columbia Awards: Honoring the Best of Journalism,” premiered on PBS digital platforms last night at 8:00 p.m. ET. You can watch the ceremony here.
Written, produced, and directed by Sarah Holt, “Decoding COVID-19” is a scientific investigation into the coronavirus that has caused an international public health crisis and turned the world upside down. Filmed in April and May of 2020, during the early weeks of the pandemic’s impact on the U.S., the one-hour documentary reveals the biology of the tiny pathogen devastating lives from Wuhan, China to New York City and follows the unprecedented collaboration among scientists who were racing to develop a vaccine.
Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award special guest Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in "one masterful hour," the film explains how the coronavirus infects and affects the body, and how it can be fought with a vaccine. "Decoding COVID-19" also presents harrowing, humanizing chronicles from the frontlines, following the health care providers, patients, and families battling the disease.
NOVA’s “Decoding COVID-19” premiered May 13, 2020, on PBS and is available for streaming online and via the PBS Video app.
The duPont-Columbia Jurors recognized “Decoding COVID-19” for its reporting on the coronavirus epidemic, adding, “NOVA combined stunning graphics and expert medical analysis with moving human stories in this hour-long primer on the coronavirus, the doctors on its frontlines, and researchers in the race for its cure.”
“We are honored to be recipients of this year’s duPont-Columbia Award, particularly for our reporting on and during the coronavirus pandemic,” said NOVA Co-Executive Producer Julia Cort. “We are grateful for this tremendous acknowledgement of NOVA’s commitment to providing accessible, critical scientific information to the public, especially during such uncertain times—and perhaps when it is most needed.”
“We are thrilled to have received this prestigious award alongside our extraordinary PBS colleagues at “American Experience,” “Frontline,” and “Independent Lens,” said NOVA Co-Executive Producer, Chris Schmidt. “We are proud of our role in public media, which continues to be a most-trusted source for crucial reporting to audiences across the country.”