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Print Media Dominate First New Media Emmy Noms

Jul 5, 2006  •  Post A Comment

Five of the seven nominees for the first Emmy Award honoring original news and documentary programming created in 2005 specifically to be viewed on computers and mobile devices come from the print world.

The nominees were announced by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences over the holiday weekend. They include three Web-exclusive projects created as NYTimes.com companions to material published in The New York Times; two that appeared on Washingtonpost.com; one that appeared on Nationalgeographic.com; and a three-piece “diary” by MTV News producer and reporter Gideon Yago for Overdrive.com.

Mr. Yago’s entry, “The Diary of Gideon in Pakistan,” covered the earthquake that rocked South Asia on Oct. 8, 2005.

The National Geographic entry, “Hurricane Katrina Batters Gulf Coast,” was designed to lend background and context on the storm’s impact.

The Times entries included “The Forgotten Genocide,” a Web documentary created by op-ed columnist Nicholas D. Kristoff on the atrocities in the Darfur region of the Sudan; “A Shifting Bolivia,” a package by reporter Juan Forero examining the policies of new Bolivian President Evo Morales; and “Child Porn: Interviews With Justin Berry,” conducted by reporter Kurt Eichenwald with a 19-year-old Web porn entrepreneur.

The Washington Post entries included “Fueling Azerbaijan’s Future,” which supported articles that appeared in the newspaper; and “Hurricane Katrina Coverage in New Orleans,” four character-driven digital vignettes produced by photojournalist Travis Fox.

The non-traditional award will be among those presented Sept. 25 at the 27th Annual News and Documentary Awards, to be held at the Marriott Marquis in Manhattan.

“All of the nominees represent an expansion of the franchise of highly respected news organizations, but in most cases they are news organizations that are not primarily known for their television news and documentary coverage,” said NATAS President and CEO Peter Price. “This is indicative of the seismic change the television industry is going through, with the growth of the Internet, cellphones and portable media players as credible news and entertainment sources.”

TV news veteran Av Westin, co-chairman of the NATAS Awards Committee for News and Documentaries, said in the announcement that the entries “covered some areas that might not make the network evening news with any depth of coverage, but issues that are equally worthy of examination.”