Peabody Awards playing the field

WEBSITES, basic cable channels and international productions were among the winners announced Wednesday of the 66th annual Peabody Awards for excellence in electronic media -- a move that signaled the field’s increasing diversity beyond traditional television and radio programs.

First-time winners for 2006 included Cartoon Network (for an episode of “Boondocks” that imagined Martin Luther King Jr.’s reaction to modern life); Food Network (for “Good Eats”); Independent Film Channel (for “Beyond Borders: Personal Stories From a Small Planet”); and Telemundo’s mun2 (for “For My Country? Latinos in the Military”).

Two websites were honored: “Being a Black Man,” which features experiences that defy statistics and stereotypes, on Washingtonpost.com; and FourDocs, which showcases short documentaries and how-to lessons, on Britain’s Channel4.com.

“This year, the Peabody Board reviewed a bounty of outstanding material,” Horace Newcomb, who oversees the awards, said in a statement. “The result is that our work becomes more difficult -- and more rewarding -- as creators and producers of electronic media develop more and more powerful, important, and engaging work.”

Particularly impressive was the array of documentaries, according to the board, that honored PBS for “Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film”; BBC and National Geographic for “Galapagos: Born of Fire”; and a dozen international partners including CBC, for “Why We Fight,” an examination of American involvements over the last 60 years.

They joined winners recognized for news programs: ABC’s “Out of Control: AIDS in Black America,” and “Brian Ross Investigates: Conduct Unbecoming,” a combination of broadcast reports and blog postings about Rep. Mark Foley’s sexually explicit e-mails to young congressional pages that speeded Foley’s resignation. CBS’ “60 Minutes “ also won for “The Duke Rape Case,” an investigation of the allegations against Duke University’s lacrosse players.

NBC won three awards for entertainment programs: the freshman drama “Friday Night Lights” and off-beat comedies “The Office” and “Scrubs.”

ABC won for its new telenovela-inspired comedy “Ugly Betty.”

BBC America, BBC and Talkback were honored for “Gideon’s Daughter,” a drama about a father/daughter relationship in the context of national mourning for Princess Diana.

Pay cable network Showtime won for “Brotherhood,” a series about two Irish American brothers, a mobster and a politician.

HBO picked up several Peabodys for a variety of productions on its many channels: Spike Lee’s documentary about New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts”; “The Music in Me,” a showcase of young musical performers on HBO Family; “Billy Jean King: Portrait of a Pioneer” on HBO Sports; the documentary “Baghdad ER,” and the much-awarded “Elizabeth I” starring Helen Mirren.

In radio, NPR was recognized for StoryCorps, which board members called a “deceptively simple, invaluable” project that tapes oral histories of people who volunteer to talk about personal or public matters, and for “Mental Anguish and the Military,” about post-traumatic stress disorder.

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

The awards will be presented June 4 in New York at a ceremony hosted by Bob Costas.

lynn.smith@latimes.com