The following is a list of Peabody Award winners and honorable mentions during the 1980s (1980–1989).
1980 Recipient Area of ExcellenceABCIBM Presents Baryshnikov on Broadway, directed by Dwight HemionBARYSHNIKOV ON BROADWAY (TV)Amber Waves (an ABC Sunday Night Movie directed by Joseph Sargent)BBC TelevisionAll Creatures Great and SmallCanadian Broadcasting CorporationThe Wonderful World of Science, a radio show for elementary-age children on earth, water, fire, air and man.Peniel, a radio story from Don Mowatt about a cancer patient at the Cancer Control Agency of BCCBS EntertainmentGideon's TrumpetPlaying for TimeCBS NewsUniverse, a science program hosted by Walter CronkiteWalter CronkitePersonal Award for his career in broadcast journalismPhil DonahuePersonal Award for his interview work on DonahueElaine Green (WCPO-TV/Cincinnati, OH)Personal Award for her interview with a gunman and admitted murderer named James Hoskins who instigated a hostage crisis in the WCPO-TV studios5 Most Disturbing Moments in TV History – Chilling Scares on YouTubeKCET-TV/Los Angeles, Adrian Malone, and Dr. Carl SaganCosmosKQED-TV/San Francisco, CABroken Arrow: Can a Nuclear Weapons Accident Happen Here?, produced by Stephen Talbot and Jonathan DannKTEH-TV/San Jose, CA, Carol Mon Pere, and Sandra NicholsThe Battle of Westlands, a profile of the conflict between agri-business giants and small farmers in California's Central ValleyKUED-TV/Salt Lake City, UT and Thirteen/WNET/New York, NY"The MX Debate," an episode of Bill Moyers' Journal on the MX missileMaryland Instructional TelevisionTerra: Our World, a series on the environment presented by Connie Chung and produced by Steve McCulloughMinnesota Public RadioA Prairie Home CompanionNational Geographic Society and WQED-TV/Pittsburgh, PAThe National Geographic Specials (featuring Mysteries of the Mind (produced by Irwin Rosten), The Superliners: Twilight of an Era (produced by Nicolas Noxon), The Invisible World (produced by Alex Pomasanoff), and Dive to the Edge of Creation (produced by James Lipscomb)National Public RadioJazz Alive!NBC RadioThe Hallelujah Caucus, an examination by C. D. Jaco of the influence of conservative religion on American politics and society, on The Source.NBC and Paramount TelevisionShōgunMary Nissenson (WTVJ-TV/Miami, FL)Personal Award for Poland: A Changing Nation (parts 1 and 2-4)Carroll O'ConnorPersonal Award for the "Archie Alone" episode of Archie Bunker's Place, which dealt with Archie's grief over the death of wife EdithPublic Broadcasting Service and Robert GellerThe American Short Story, highlighting adaptations of Bernice Bobs Her Hair, Paul’s Case and Almos’ a Man.San Francisco OperaThe San Francisco Opera Radio BroadcastsSol TaishoffPersonal Award for his reportage and critiques on events in radio and television (Taishoff was a co-founder, editor, and publisher of Broadcasting magazine)Studs TerkelPersonal Award for his work at WFMT/Chicago, ILWNCN/New York, NYInstitutional Award for overall performance as exemplified by Conversations with Horowitz, an interview with Vladimir Horowitz by David Dubal
1981 Recipient Area of ExcellenceBill LeonardPersonal Award for Leonard's role "in developing the strong CBS News organization"Danny KayePersonal Award for Kaye's work on An Evening with Danny Kaye and The New York Philharmonic (an episode of Live from Lincoln Center) and SkokieWSMV-TV/Nashville, TNInstitutional Award for WSMV's documentary work, citing "Crime's Children" (on children of prisoners and produced by Alan Griggs), "Hot Cars, Cold Cash" (on auto theft and produced by Mike Devlin), "Split Second Justice" (on police shootings and produced by Jim Travis) and "Crime's Carousel" (on teen offenders and produced by Steve Hall)KATU-TV/Portland, ORInstitutional Award for KATU's documentary work, citing "Ready on the Firing Line" (produced by Rick Meyers), "Out of the Ashes" (on 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens and directed by Rich Dargan), and "To Begin Again" (produced by John Armstrong)WJR/Detroit, MI"Newsfile: A Bankrupt Court", a series of reports by Gene Fogel and Rod Hansen probing the inner workings of the U.S. District Bankruptcy CourtNational Radio TheatreThe Odyssey of Homer, directed by Yuri RasovskyCanadian Broadcasting CorporationCarl Sandburg at Connemara, a radio story produced by Don Mowatt about the poet and his last homeTimothy and Susan Todd (aired on NPR)The Todds' Teddy Bears PicnicWQDR-FM/Raleigh, NCOur Forgotten Warriors: Vietnam Veterans Face the Challenges of the '80sWLS-TV/Chicago, ILAward for WLS' Eyewitness News, citing the reports "Traffic Court: Justice or a Joke?" (produced by Andrew Segal) and "So You Need A Driver's License" (produced by Patricia Dean)WDVM-TV/Washington, DC and John GoldsmithNow That We've Got Your InterestNBC and MTM EnterprisesHill Street BluesNebraska Educational Television Network and The Great Amwell CompanyThe Private History of a Campaign That Failed (aired on PBS)CBS and Alan Landsburg ProductionsBillWNET/New York, NY and PBSDance in America: Nureyev and The Joffrey Ballet/In Tribute to Nijinsky, produced by Emile Ardolino and Judy Kinberg KJRH-TV/Tulsa, OKProject: China, produced by Nancy SaslowHome Box Office and Ms. MagazineShe's Nobody's Baby: The History of American Women in the 20th Century, directed by Ana Carrigan (the first Peabody awarded to a cable program)Societe Radio-CanadaKlimbo: Le Lion et La Souris (The Lion and the Mouse)ABC NewsAward for Viewpoint, Nightline, and America Held Hostage: The Secret NegotiationsABC and T.A.T. CommunicationsThe WaveWGBH-TV/Boston, MA and Granada TVThe Red Army, produced by Andrew Cockburn and Brian BlakeEighth Decade Consortium (KOMO-TV, Seattle, WA, KSTP-TV/St. Paul, MN, WCVB-TV/Boston, MA, WJLA-TV/Washington, DC, and WRAL-TV/Raleigh, NC)Fed Up with Fear, a documentary on fighting crime (produced by Ken Schram, Kathleen Matthews, Cathy Perron, Kevin Duffus, and Peter Peterson)KTEH-TV/San Jose, CAThe Day After Trinity: J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb
1982 Recipient Area of ExcellenceAlistair CookePersonal Award "for his contributions to broadcasting, both in the United States and in Great Britain"Texaco, Inc., The Texaco Foundation, and Metropolitan Opera AssociationInstitutional Award for opera presentations on radio and TVNational Public RadioThe Sunday Show (John Bos, executive producer; Fred Bourque, producer; Rose Tobin and Laura Walker, directors)Taylor Made Piano: A Jazz History, hosted by Billy TaylorCanadian Broadcasting CorporationMorningside, for "1905"WMAL/Washington, DC"They Served With Honor," recollections of those who served in the Vietnam War (Larry Matthews, reporter)NBC Radio NewsBanks on the Brink, a Second Sunday report on the international banking crisisMutual Broadcasting SystemLarry King ShowRadio FoundationThe Bob and Ray Public Radio ShowKOCO-TV/Oklahoma City, OK"Oklahoma Shame," an investigation into abuses and deaths in homes for intellectually disabled residents run by the state's Department of Health ServicesWCVB-TV/Boston, MAGround Zero: Victory RoadKYW-TV/Philadelphia, PASweet Nothing, a documentary exploring "our society's excessive consumption of sugar"BBC Television, Paramount Television, and Operation Prime TimeSmiley's PeopleWWL-TV/New Orleans, LAThe Search for Alexander, a documentary on a museum exhibition that included works from Vergina, citing the work of Phil Johnson and James TolhurstWarner-Amex Satellite EntertainmentAward for Nickelodeon and the network's programming for childrenNBC, Margie-Lee Enterprises, and The Blue Marble Company, in association with ITC Productions, Inc.Skeezer (an NBC Monday Movie directed by Peter H. Hunt)NBC and Highgate PicturesThe Electric GrandmotherNBC NewsThe Man Who Shot the Pope: A Study in Terrorism (reported by Bill McLaughlin and Marvin Kalb)ABC NewsABC News Closeup: Vietnam RequiemCBS NewsJuilliard and Beyond: A Life in Music (produced by Shareen Blair Brysac and narrated by Charles Kuralt)CBS Entertainment and Cinetex InternationalThe Wall, a television movie about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising directed by Robert MarkowitzWQED-TV/Pittsburgh, PAFirebird, a productionby the Dance Theatre of Harlem directed for television by Beverly BaroffKQED-TV/San Francisco, CACurrent Affairs: The Case of Dashiell Hammett, a documentary on Dashiell Hammett directed by Stephen TalbotKGMB-TV/Honolulu, HI and Lee Productions Inc.Beyond the Great Wall: Journey to the End of ChinaWAGA-TV/Atlanta, GAParadise Saved? a documentary examining the effect of tourists on Cumberland Island National Seashore (produced by Don Smith and Forrest Sawyer)WBBM-TV/Chicago, IL"Killing Crime: A Police Cop-out," an investigation led by Pam Zekman into the erasure of Chicago crime reports in order to create a decrease in crime statisticsWTSP/St Petersburg, FL"Prisoners of the Harvest," an investigation by Mark Feldstein into the kidnapping, enslavement, and abuse of migrant farm workers by a farm labor contractorDaniel Wilson Productions and Taurus FilmsBlood and Honor: Youth Under HitlerTelevision Corporation of America 784 Days That Changed America: From Watergate to Resignation (produced by Robert Drew and narrated by Nancy Dickerson)
1983