Marcy Carsey, Television Producer and Co-Founder of Carsey-Werner Television, to deliver Peabody-Smithgall Lecture

Peabody Awards will present its Peabody-Smithgall Lecture on Wednesday, March 29 at 4pm at the Chapel on North Campus at the University of Georgia. “A Conversation with Marcy Carsey” will feature Marcy Carsey, television producer of such iconic hits as The Cosby Show, A Different World, Roseanne, Grace Under Fire, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and That ’70s Show, interviewed by Dr. Jeffrey Jones, executive director of the Peabody Awards and Lambdin Kay Chair of the Peabodys in the Department of Entertainment and Media Studies.  Peabody is based out of UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The Peabody-Smithgall lecture is part of the university’s Signature Lecture Series, which features speakers noted for their broad, multidisciplinary appeal and compelling bodies of work. The event is co-sponsored by the Institute for Women’s Studies and the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, and is free and open to the general public. UGA students, faculty and staff are encouraged to attend.

“Marcy is an icon of the television industry, producing some of our most beloved programs, especially those focused on the family. We’ve been fortunate to have her serve as a juror for the Peabody Awards, bringing her experience and insight into the process of selecting the best stories of the year,” said Jones. “We’re delighted to have her share her numerous experiences with the UGA community.”

Marcy Carsey teamed with Tom Werner to form The Carsey-Werner Company, the television production company responsible for The Cosby Show, Roseanne, 3rd Rock from the Sun, That ’70s Show, and A Different World. Carsey graduated from the University of New Hampshire and began her show business career as an NBC tour guide. After years of story editing and advertising work, she rose through the ranks at the ABC network to become senior VP of Prime-Time Series. She left ABC in 1980 and formed her own production company, which became the Carsey-Werner Company. Most recently, she co-produced That ’90s Show, which premiered on Netflix in January 2023.

In addition to being inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Broadcasting and Cable Magazine’s Hall of Fame, the Carsey-Werner producing team has received numerous awards, including a Peabody Award, an Emmy, the Humanitas Prize, the People’s Choice Award, a Golden Globe, and an NAACP Image Award. Carsey also received the Lucy Award from Women in Film.

The Peabody-Smithgall Lecture is named in honor of Lessie Bailey Smithgall (ABJ ’33) and her late husband, Charles Smithgall. In the late 1930s, Mrs. Smithgall introduced Lambdin Kay, general manager of Atlanta’s WSB Radio, to John Drewry, dean of the University of Georgia’s School of Journalism. Together, their efforts led to the establishment of the George Foster Peabody Awards in 1940. In 2003, the Smithgalls endowed the Lambdin Kay Chair, now held by Peabody’s Executive Director. The Peabody-Smithgall Lecture is supported with funds from the Lambdin Kay Chair.

Peabody Awards Ceremony to move to Los Angeles first time in 83-year history

Peabody has announced that its annual ceremony, the Peabody Awards, will be held for the first time in Los Angeles at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Sunday, June 11, 2023. The announcement marks Peabody’s first in-person ceremony since 2019, as well as the first time ever in its history that the Awards will take place in Los Angeles.

The Peabody Awards honor the most intelligent, powerful and moving stories told in broadcasting and digital media. These stories—from entertainment to documentary to news programming—shape our thinking and understanding of the world in which we live. Peabody Award nominees and winners are an exclusive group who transcend commerce and rise to the level of art, creating compelling narratives that tackle today’s issues with depth, complexity, and empathy.

The program is based at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.

This year will also be the first year that the digital and interactive storytelling category, which was introduced last year and includes gaming, virtual reality, and social video, will be included in the main Peabody ceremony.

“Moving the Peabody Awards to Los Angeles, a city practically built on the power of storytelling, is an exciting evolution of Peabody’s commitment to curating the most powerful and moving stories told in broadcasting and digital media. Los Angeles gives us the opportunity to reimagine the awards show and incorporate more talent and presenters into a ceremony that promises to be nothing short of phenomenal,” said Jeffrey Jones, executive director of Peabody. “We’re also thrilled to welcome Carrie Lozano, an incredibly accomplished documentary filmmaker and journalist, to our board of jurors, which will be led by the brilliant Peabody veteran and journalist John Seigenthaler.”

Longtime NBC Nightly News anchor and correspondent John Seigenthaler has been named as the next chair of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors.  After six years as a member of the Board of Jurors, this marks the first year that Seigenthaler will serve as chair of the prestigious program’s judging body.

“It is a special honor to be part of this diverse and talented team of judges,” Seigenthaler said.  “The Peabodys are unique because we celebrate ‘stories that matter,’ in a complicated and ever-changing world.  Once again, we look forward to the challenging task of choosing the best of the best.”

During his 11 years at NBC News, Seigenthaler anchored NBC Nightly News Weekend edition, appeared on Meet The Press, Dateline, TODAY, Weekend TODAY, MSNBC, CNBC and Discovery Channel.  He also was an anchor and reporter in local television news at KOMO TV (ABC) in Seattle, and WKRN TV (ABC) and WSMV TV (NBC) in Nashville.

Seigenthaler is currently a Managing Partner at the global communications firm, Finn Partners.   He is a member of the Freedom Forum Advisory Board, and a member of the judging committee for the RFK Journalism Awards.   He holds a B.A. degree in Public Policy Studies from Duke University.

Peabody has also appointed Carrie Lozano to its board of jurors.

Carrie Lozano is the Director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film and Artist Programs, and is an award winning documentary filmmaker and journalist. Prior to Sundance, she was director of the International Documentary Association’s Enterprise Documentary and Pare Lorentz funds, where she supported more than 60 diverse films and filmmakers at the intersection of documentary and journalism. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and serves on the board of ProPublica and on the advisory boards of PBS Frontline and U.C. Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism where she is an alum.

The Peabody Board of Jurors is made up of media industry professionals, media scholars, critics and journalists, appointed by the program’s executive director to a renewable three-year term of service.

Nominees for the 83rd Peabody Awards will be announced in April with the winners announced in May. All nominees must receive a unanimous vote by the Peabody Board of Jurors. The awards ceremony will be produced by Bob Bain Productions.