Series Kicks Off Partnership That Brings Together Award-Winning Content and Diverse Voices to Elevate Important National Issues
MIAMI, FL – FEBRUARY 9, 2017 – FUSION, The Root and the Peabody Media Center have launched a content partnership that will bring Peabody’s rich media archive together with FUSION’s diverse voices to explore issues of contemporary social importance. The first project will celebrate Black History Month in a digital video series that revisits African-American history from several perspectives including: an examination of how race has been a defining feature of the struggle for equality and justice for all of Baltimore’s citizens; black power and creative expression in the civil rights era; and historical documentaries that focus on the rich tapestry of what it’s like to be black in America.
The series will be featured throughout February across the digital, social and OTT platforms of FUSION and The Root, the leading news and culture site for African-Americans, and will include contemporary Peabody-winning programming by some of the most creative African-American storytellers working in television today:
- “Baltimore: Then & Now” | Baltimore has been a case study of race relations in America since the mid-1950s. The Peabody Media Center revisits its archive for content that demonstrates how the city’s conversation about race has evolved over the years, finding that poverty, class and lack of investment in infrastructure have long been key factors in the city’s struggles. See the first installment now on The Root and FUSION.net.
- “Black Power and Creative Expression” | Both local and national programming provided African-Americans vehicles to express themselves through art and performance. From spoken word performances on productions such as “Tell It Like It Is!” and “Colored People’s Time” to appearances by James Brown and Nina Simone on national TV, the medium captured the voices of a movement.
- “Storytellers: Giving African-Americans a Voice” | From obscure entries such as Ossie Davis’ “Slavery” to transformative programs such as “Roots,” a look at the role of African-Americans from behind the lens, featuring conversations with Stanley Nelson and Henry Louis Gates Jr., the co-founder and Chairman of The Root.
- “African-American Narratives Today” | Race remains a central talking point in the U.S. and Peabody continually recognizes stories and storytellers that address the issue in innovative, unexpected ways—now it examines a few examples of voices that are changing and continuing the conversation. Segment includes a special conversation with Key & Peele.
Peabody Spotlight is a digital series produced by the Peabody Media Center at the University of Georgia. Each piece draws from the vast Peabody Awards archives, the third largest repository of audio-visual materials in the United States. Peabody Spotlight will focus on significant societal issues as represented through the storytelling of Peabody winners and finalists, as well as 75 years of broadcasting’s best programming.
CONTACTS:
David Ford, Fusion, david@fusion.net, 305-925-8882; Margaret Blanchard, Peabody, mblanch@uga.edu, 706-542-2902
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