Awards given to pieces on terrorism, Sept. 11

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) _ Several television networks won Peabody Awards Wednesday for their coverage of the war on terrorism and the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. <br><br>CNN's ``Terror on Tape''

Thursday, April 3rd 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) _ Several television networks won Peabody Awards Wednesday for their coverage of the war on terrorism and the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.

CNN's ``Terror on Tape'' analyzed al-Qaida videotapes that teach terrorist techniques, while ABC's ``The Survivors'' focused on people who helped the injured victims of the attacks.

CBS News/48 Hours was honored for its piece by two French filmmakers whose cameras rolled inside the collapsing World Trade Center as they documented the life of a rookie New York firefighter.

National Public Radio's ``All Things Considered'' received an award for a history of the World Trade Center with rare recordings and oral histories.

Thirty-one radio and television programs were recognized this year, using the Peabody's only criterion: excellence in broadcast. The George Foster Peabody Awards are administered by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.

Several TV dramas won Peabodys, including HBO's critically acclaimed ``Six Feet Under'' and NBC's ``Boomtown,'' with its complex narrative from five points of view. BBC America's ``Almost Strangers'' won for untangling the story of a contemporary British family.

Producer David E. Kelley received a Peabody for a single episode of ``Boston Public'' for its ``highly charged exploration'' of a racial epithet in the classroom.

Judges praised HBO's ``Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jams'' for making poetry fun and giving it rare TV coverage.

The 62nd Annual Peabody Awards Ceremony luncheon will be hosted by ABC's Barbara Walters on May 19 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. In a first, A&E Network will broadcast the ceremony in June.