The Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Documentary Script – Current Events was an award presented by the Writers Guild of America to the best writing in a documentary about current events. It was first awarded at the 41st Writers Guild of America Awards, being the episode "Apartheid Part 5: 1987" from the American program Frontline the inaugural winner of the category. After the 75th Writers Guild of America Awards, the award was combined with Documentary Script – Other Than Current Events into one Documentary Script category.
Winners and nominees 1980s Year Program Episode Writer(s) Network Ref.Frontline"Apartheid Part 5: 1987"Irv DrasninPBS Secret IntelligenceJoseph Angier and Blaine BaggettPBS
1990s Year Program Episode Writer(s) Network Ref.Frontline"Seven Days in Bensonhurst"Thomas Lennon and Shelby SteelePBS Power in the PacificJoseph Angier and Carl BykerPBS No award givenFrontline"The Choice '92"Richard Ben Gramer, Thomas Lennon and Michael EpsteinPBS No award givenThe Human Quest"The Nature of Human Nature"Roger Bingham and Carl BykerPBS 48 Hours "The Rage Over Welfare" Greg Kandra CBSFrontline "Rush Lumbaugh's America" Stephen TalbotPBS "Currents of Fear" Jon PalfremanFrontline"The Pilgrimage of Jesse Jackson"Marshall Frady and Mark ZwonitzerPBS Primetime Live "Judgement at Midnight" Mark Zwonitzer ABC Nova "Bombing of America" Nancy Linde PBSDateline NBC"Why Can't We Live Together?"Craig LeakeNBC Frontline "The Choice 1996" Helen Whitney and Jane Barnes PBSFrontline"Once Upon a Time in Arkansas"Michael Kirk and Peter J. BoyerPBS Primetime Live "The McCaughey Seven: A Homecoming" Lori A. Bores ABC Frontline "Busted: America's War on Marijuana" Elena Mannes PBSFrontline"Give War A Chance"Michael Kirk and Peter J. BoyerPBS Dateline NBC "The Greatest Generation" Tom Brokaw and Craig Leake NBC Frontline "Surviving Aids" Martin Smith and Lowell Bergman PBS Nova "Surviving Aids" Elizabeth Arledge The Awful Truth "Funeral in a HMO" Annie Cohen, Francis Gasparini, Henriette Mantel, Jay Martel, Nick McKinney and Michael Moore Bravo
2000s Year Program Episode Writer(s) Network Ref.Frontline"John Paul II: The Millennial Pope"Helen Whitney and Jane BarnesPBS The Awful Truth "Holiday Inn Attempts to Deport Its Mexican Housekeepers for Organizing a Union" Michael Moore and Nick McKinney BravoFrontline "Justice for Sale" Stephen Talbot and Sheila KaplanPBS "The Killer at Thurston High" Michael J. Kirk and Peter J. BoyerFrontline"Drug Wars: Part 2"Lowell Bergman, Kenneth Levism, Doug Hamilton and Oriana ZillPBS Frontline "Drug Wars, Part 1" Martin Smith, Brooke Runnette and Oriana Zill PBS9/11Tom Forman and Greg KandraCBSFrontline "The Man Who Knew" Michael KirkPBS "Rollover: The Hidden Story of the SUV" Marc Shaffer and Barak Goodman Nova "Bioterror" Matthew CollinsFrontline"Truth, War and Consequences"Martin SmithPBS Frontline "The War Behind Closed Doors" Michael Kirk PBSFrontline"From China With Love"Michael KirkPBS Last Man Standing: Politics Texas Style "P.O.V." Paul Stekler PBSFrontline"The Torture Question"Edward GreyPBSSomeone's Watching Michael KirkPBSFrontline "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?" Hedrick Smith "The Soldier's Heart" Raney AronsonFrontline"The Dark Side"Michael KirkPBSFrontline "The Meth Epidemic" Cark BykerPBS "The Age of AIDS" William Cran and Renata Simone "Can You Afford to Retire?" Hedrick Smith and Rick YoungFrontline"Return of the Taliban"Martin SmithPBS America at a Crossroads "Security vs. Liberty: The Other War" Edward GrayPBSFrontline "The Enemy Within" Lowell Bergman and Oriana Zill De Granados "News War Part 1: Secrets Sources and Spin" Raney Aronson-Rath, Lowell Bergman and Seth Bomse "News War Part 3: What's Happening to the News?" Stephen Talbot and Lowell Bergman "Spying on the Home Front" Hedrick Smith and Rick YoungFrontline"Bush's War: Part One"Michael KirkPBS Nova "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial" Joseph McMasterPBSDepression: Out of the Shadows Larkin McPheeFrontline "Rules of Engagement" Arun Rath "The Medicated Child" Marcela Gaviria Frontline"The Madoff Affair"Marcela Gaviria and Martin SmithPBSFrontline "Black Money" Lowell Bergman and Oriana Zill de GranadosPBS "Heat" Martin Smith "The Hugo Chávez Show" Ofra Bikel "Inside the Meltdown" Michael Kirk "Poisoned Waters" Hedrick Smith and Rick Young
2010s Year Program Episode Writer(s) Network Ref.Frontline"Flying Cheap"Rick YoungPBSFrontline "College, Inc." Martin Smith and John MaggioPBS "The Card Game" Lowell Bergman and Oriana Zill de Granados "The Quake" Martin Smith and Marcela Gaviria "The Vaccine War" Jon Palfreman "The Warning" Michael KirkFrontline"Top Secret America"Michael Kirk and Mike WiserPBS Nova “Smartest Machine on Earth” Julia Cort and Michael BicksPBS Frontline “The Spill” Marcela Gaviria and Martin SmithFrontline"Money, Power and Wall Street: Episode One"Marcela Gaviria and Martin SmithPBSFrontline "The Anthrax Files" Michael KirkPBS "Lost in Detention" Rick Young "Money, Power and Wall Street: Episode Three" Michael Kirk and Mike Wiser "Money, Power and Wall Street: Episode Four" Marcela Gaviria and Martin Smith "A Perfect Terrorist" Thomas JenningsFrontline"Egypt in Crisis"Marcela Gaviria and Martin SmithPBS Frontline "Cliffhanger" Michael Kirk and Mike Wiser PBSFrontline"United States of Secrets: The Program (Part One)"Michael Kirk and Mike WiserPBSFrontline "United States of Secrets: Privacy Lost (Part Two)" Martin SmithPBS "Losing Iraq" Michael Kirk and Mike WiserFrontline"American Terrorist"Thomas JenningsPBS Frontline "Gunned Down: The Power of the NRA" Michael Kirk and Mike Wiser PBSFrontline"The Choice 2016"Michael Kirk and Mike WiserPBS "Inside Assad's Syria" Martin Smith Frontline "Chasing Heroin" Marcela Gaviria PBSFrontline"Confronting ISIS"Martin SmithPBSUnseen Enemy Janet Tobias CNN Frontline "Poverty, Politics and Profit" Rick Young PBSFrontline"Trump's Takeover"Michael Kirk and Mike WiserPBS Nova "Black Hole Apocalypse" Rushmore DeNooyerPBSFrontline "Blackout in Puerto Rico" Rick Young "The Gang Crackdown" Marcela GaviriaFrontline"Trump's Trade War"Marcela GaviriaPBSFrontline "Coal's Deadly Dust" Elaine McMillion SheldonPBS "The Mueller Investigation" Michael Kirk and Mike Wiser
2020s Year Program Episode Writer(s) Network Ref.Agents of Chaos"Part II"Alex Gibney and Michael J. PalmerHBOFrontline "The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden" Michael Kirk and Mike WiserPBS "Whose Vote Counts" Jelani Cobb, June Cross and Tom Jennings Agents of Chaos "Part I" Alex Gibney and Michael J. Palmer HBOFrontline"The Healthcare Divide"Rick YoungPBS Frontline "The Jihadist" Martin Smith and Marcela Gaviria PBSFrontline"Lies, Politics and Democracy"Michael Kirk & Mike WiserPBSHiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness"Episode Two: Resilience"David BlisteinPBSVice News Tonight"Inside the Alleged Sexual Assault Cover Up in Charlotte Schools"Arlissa Norman, Carter Sherman, Gilad ThalerVice.com
Programs with multiple awards 27 awards Frontline (PBS)
Programs with multiple nominations 78 nominations Frontline (PBS)
6 nominations Nova (PBS)
2 nominations Primetime Live (ABC) The Awful Truth (Bravo) Agents of Chaos (HBO) Dateline NBC (NBC)
See also Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Programming
References