MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Jason Mittell, professor of film and media culture, and American studies, has been named a Peabody Fellow Scholar at the new Media Center at Peabody, a scholarly research center and digital media production arm of the prestigious Peabody Awards. Mittell, who is also the faculty director for Middlebury’s Digital Liberal Arts Initiative, will serve with five other television and media studies professors from across the country as the inaugural class of Peabody Fellow Scholars (2017–19). The Media Center at Peabody is based at the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

“I’m quite excited to be working with a team of impressive colleagues to build upon the remarkable reputation of the Peabody Awards,” said Mittell. “Especially in this politically fraught moment, I am committed to Peabody’s goal of spreading broader understanding of media’s impact on democracy and society, and honored to be part of these efforts.”

Jeffrey Jones, executive director of the awards program and new center, announced the formation of the Media Center at an event on November 15 in Los Angeles celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Peabody Awards.

“The Media Center is a natural extension of what the Peabody Awards set out to do 75 years ago,” Jones stated. “It provides a platform for elevating the currency, conversation around, and impact of each year’s best stories in television, radio and digital media. It furthers our goal of becoming a year-round organization that demonstrates how and why Peabody-winning stories are influencing the national dialogue about pressing social issues.”

According to Mittell, he and the other Peabody Fellow Scholars will serve as experts for both the media industry and the popular press, sharing their expertise with new audiences. The fellows, who, with the exception of Mittell, all teach at universities are:

  • David Craig, University of Southern California
  • Aymar Christian, Northwestern University
  • Jonathan Gray, University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Amanda Lotz, University of Michigan
  • Jason Mittell, Middlebury College
  • Barbie Zelizer, University of Pennsylvania

More information about the new center is available here.

Peabody
Peabody is an organization dedicated to invigorating people through the power of stories. Founded in 1940, Peabody honors and extends conversation around stories that matter in television, radio and digital media through symposiums, screenings, podcasts and an annual awards ceremony considered to be among the most prestigious in the industry. Peabody gives awards for news, entertainment, documentaries, children’s programming, education, interactive programming and public service, which in turn encourage media to reach for and achieve the highest standards. Peabody is administered through the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. For more information, visit www.peabodyawards.com.