Rain Media’s documentary, “The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia” has been selected as one of 30 finalists for the 2021 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards today, the first time the jury has ever selected a group of finalists for the duPont Silver Baton.
The duPont-Columbia finalists covered the most critical, and in some cases dangerous, stories of the year including the coronavirus pandemic, policing in America and protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.
At a time when journalists were branded as “enemies of the people” spreading “fake news,” facing arrest for doing their jobs and the threat of coronavirus while covering public events and breaking news, the jury selected a larger number of stories in the public service across platforms. The winners of the duPont awards will be announced in January 2021.
“These are unprecedented times, and we wanted to spotlight a wider range of outstanding journalism that is so crucial to making sense of our world,” said Lisa R. Cohen, Director of the duPont-Columbia Awards. “These finalists rose to the top of a very competitive group.”
“In a year when truth was under assault and a pandemic raged across the globe, journalists took on an especially important role under difficult circumstances,” said Cheryl Gould, duPont Jury Chair and former NBC News executive. “The duPont-Columbia Awards recognize the stellar reporting which informed the public at a critical time, helped hold officials accountable, and supported our democracy.”
“The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia”, which first aired on PBS Frontline on October 1st, 2019 and was produced by Martin Smith, Linda Hirsch and Sara Obeidat.
