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Arab American Wins Prestigious Peabody Award

Posted on Tuesday April 12, 2005

The Arab American Institute is pleased to pass along the following release regarding Link TV and it’s Peabody Award Winning Program Mosaic produced by Jamal Dajani.

For Immediate Release
MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact: Jennifer Spoerri (510) 757-3321
Link TV’s MOSAIC: WORLD NEWS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST WINS RADIO AND TELEVISION’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS AWARD—THE PEABODY
Link TV First Satellite-Only Network to Win Peabody

SAN FRANCISCO —On April 7th, Link TV’s daily news show, MOSAIC: World News From the Middle East, the nation’s only firsthand, uncensored half-hour presentation of news broadcasts direct from the region, received a 2004 Peabody Award. This is the first time in the 64-year history of the Peabody that a satellite-only television network has received this honor. In this time of deeply polarized beliefs about the Middle East, it is noteworthy that the Peabody was awarded to a series that is committed to providing Americans with rare window on the diverse Mideast perspectives not regularly seen in the mainstream media.

Produced by Palestinian-American, Jamal Dajani, MOSAIC is available to more than 25 million households in the U.S and is the nation’s first unexpurgated and translated compilation of daily news from over a dozen key countries in the Middle East. With news reports from broadcasters in Egypt, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, Israel, Syria, Iran, Iraq and beyond; MOSAIC is the only program on national TV where Americans see what people throughout the Middle East are watching on their television sets every day.

Launched shortly after 9/11, MOSAIC is unedited and uncensored, leaving analysis to the viewer. It was created to address the question that millions of Americans were asking after the tragedy of 9/11, “Why do they hate us?” The program simply presents the Middle East as 280 million people in 22 countries see it every day. Often MOSAIC breaks regional stories that other U.S. networks won’t report.

During the Iraq war, MOSAIC served as a trusted source of news footage and expert analysis. On many days there was a line of network and local Bay Area crews waiting to interview producer, Jamal Dajani. During the past 3 ½ years, Dajani has been interviewed by the press more than 130 times in key local, national and international print and broadcast media outlets. Reportedly, even the White House and U.S. Department of State monitor MOSAIC.

Produced by one of the most diverse teams in broadcasting, MOSAIC is headed up by Producer Jamal Dajani, a Palestinian-American and includes a diverse team of journalists with Middle Eastern backgrounds representing such countries as: Palestine, Syrian, Yemen, Egypt, Libya, Sudan and Israel. Mr. Dajani, Link TV’s Director of Middle East Programming, has produced more than 840 daily MOSAIC shows and specials. He has made additional contributions to bridging the lack of Middle East perspectives in U. S. media by airing programming like Abu-Dhabi’s Viewpoint with James Zogby, the first global talk show linking viewers throughout the Middle East with their U.S. counterparts. Dajani also produces monthly MOSAIC specials and a Link TV original program, Who Speaks for Islam, to promote a deeper understanding of Islam to Americans.

Dean Murphy of the New York Times wrote that MOSAIC is “not exactly the daily fare of Middle East coverage found on CNN, Fox News, or the big three networks. But that was the whole idea.” Peter Jennings called it “television without borders.” MOSAIC producer Jamal Dajani told Peter Jennings, “Here in the United States, we’re just trapped in our own media bubble. And it’s good for us to see what the other side is seeing at the same time.”

MOSAIC is supported by grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and by contributions from Link TV viewers.

About Link TV:

Link TV is a non-commercial television network available in more than 25 million U.S. homes on DIRECTV channel 375 and Dish Network channel 9410. The 24-hour programming is a mix of documentaries, international news, foreign films and the best of World Music, Select Link TV programs are streamed on the Internet at www.linktv.org. Link TV is operated by Link Media, Inc., a California non-profit organization, with production studios in San Francisco, New York and Washington, DC. The network is funded by viewer contributions and grants from more than 25 foundations, including the Ford Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. Macarthur Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Markle Foundation, Open Society Institute, Otto Haas Charitable Trust, Paul Allen Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Shei’rah Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Tides Foundation, Wallace Global Fund, and William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

For the complete program schedule and Internet streaming, go to www.linktv.org

About The Peabody Awards:

The Peabody Awards, the oldest honor in electronic media, recognize distinguished achievement and meritorious public service by stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals.

The George Foster Peabody Awards were first awarded in 1941 for radio programs broadcast in 1940. The awards recognize distinguished achievement and meritorious service by radio and television networks, stations, producing organizations, cable television organizations and individuals. They perpetuate the memory of the banker-philanthropist whose name they bear. The awards program is administered by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.

Today the George Foster Peabody Awards are often cited as the most prestigious awards in electronic media.