FRONTLINE Nominated for Three George Foster Peabody Awards

TUE., APRIL 15 — FRONTLINE, the acclaimed PBS investigative documentary series produced at GBH in Boston, has received three George Foster Peabody Award nominations in the News and Public Service categories.

FRONTLINE, Maine Public and the Portland Press Herald’s 2024 documentary Breakdown in Maine was nominated in the Public Service category. From director Bronwyn Berry and producer James Blue, the documentary examines the October 2023 shooting in Lewiston, Maine — the deadliest mass shooting in the state’s history — and the missed opportunities to prevent it. The joint reporting is a part of FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative, which aims to bolster local and regional news organizations conducting investigative journalism projects in their communities.

Two more FRONTLINE documentaries from 2024 — China, the U.S. & the Rise of Xi Jinping and South Korea’s Adoption Reckoning — were honored with nominations in the News category.

From filmmakers Martin Smith, Marcela Gaviria and Brian Funck, China, the U.S. & the Rise of Xi Jinping investigates China’s emergence as one of the world’s wealthiest — and most repressive — countries, and the role of its longtime president, Xi Jinping. The documentary examines the contentious U.S.-China relationship, traces Xi’s defining moments and explores his vision for China and the broader implications — from his crackdown on Muslims in Xinjiang to his provocative ambitions for Taiwan.

Director Lora Moftah’s documentary South Korea’s Adoption Reckoning examines allegations of fraud and abuse during South Korea’s historic foreign adoption boom. In the film, Associated Press reporters Kim Tong-hyung and Claire Galofaro investigate cases of falsified records and identities among the adoptions of 200,000 children to the U.S. and other countries over decades.

“We’re honored to see our journalism acknowledged with these George Foster Peabody nominations,” said FRONTLINE editor-in-chief and executive producer Raney Aronson-Rath. “These nominations recognize the complex stories carefully told by our dogged filmmakers and serve as a reminder of the critical value that longform documentary storytelling offers to the American public and to communities around the world.”

The prestigious George Foster Peabody Awards have honored excellence in broadcasting since 1940. Find the list of 2025 Peabody Award nominees announced on Tuesday here. According to the nominations announcement, the winners of the 85th annual Peabody Awards will be announced on May 1, 2025.