COMMUNITY & PUBLIC SERVICE EMMY AWARDS ANNOUNCES NOMINATIONS

WITNESS To Receive Humanitarian Award For Its Use of Video and Online Technology

New York, N.Y. – October 4, 2007 – The National  Academy of  Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) today announced the nominations for this year’s Humanitarian Award and Public & Community Service Emmy® Awards.  The awards will be presented at a luncheon ceremony on Friday, November 9, at Pegasus Room, 30 Rockefeller Center, 64th Floor.

            Also at that ceremony, WITNESS (www.witness.org), a human rights organization co-founded by musician Peter Gabriel, will receive the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Humanitarian Award for its use of video and online technologies to document and expose human-rights violations around the world.  WITNESS, based in Brooklyn, N.Y., has provided hundreds of human rights activists in 70 countries with the technical and strategic training and support they need to transform personal stories of abuse into powerful tools for justice and change. In the coming months, WITNESS will launch a new online initiative called the Hub.  The Hub will be a participatory website enabling people anywhere in the world to use their cameras, camcorders and cell phones to document and share their human rights-related footage to promote discussion, action and policy change.

            “WITNESS and its chairman Peter Gabriel have played an extraordinary role in creating an avenue for ‘participatory service,’” says Peter Price, President/CEO of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. “Their promotion of citizen journalism and video advocacy has opened our eyes to human rights abuse in countries where traditional journalists may not be present.  WITNESS is very deserving of this Humanitarian Award for harnessing new technologies to serve humanitarian causes."   "We are honored to have WITNESS as our first Humanitarian winner," said Lydia Loizides, the Chair of the Humanitarian Award for the Academy.

            In addition to the Humanitarian Award,  Public & Community Service Emmy Awards will be presented in five categories.  Two awards for Outstanding Public Service Announcement, one national and one local, are presented each year.  In addition a Public Service Announcement Award for Broadband that includes announcements distributed by internet, cell phones and other portable devices will be given.  Emmy Awards will also be presented for the Outstanding Community Service Campaign and for an Outstanding Community Service Campaign distributed via Broadband.  To be eligible, all announcements were distributed from January 1, 2006 and June 20, 2007.   

            “This year’s nominations represent the best media practices of humanitarian and public service efforts,” said Price.  “They also represent a broad spectrum of social concerns that the media aids us in understanding and even, in some cases, resolving.”
 
            The winners for these categories will be announced at the awards ceremony on November 9.  The nominees, announced today, are:

Humanitarian Award

 
Witness (www.witness.org)

Local Public Service Announcement

Children & Mental Health (Retos y Triunfos en el Aprendizaje)
          National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities -NICHCY

Food Bank for New York City
          Food Bank NYC

The Whole Truth: Myths Adults Believe About Young People
          Marion County Commission on Youth/WXIN/WTTV

“Choose to Save” Savingsman Campaign
          Employee Benefit Research Institute - EBRI

National Public Service Announcement

Life Rolls On: Pool
          Life Rolls On

Fight for Her Rights: One of Those Guys/The Speech
          Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

think: HIV; Marvelyn: The Guy/Fair-weather Friend/Denial
          The Kaiser Family Foundation/MTV

Infect Truth: Singing Cowboy/Sodium Hydroxide/Melting Moms
          American Legacy Foundation/truth

Marvelyn Brown: That Night/Finding Out/Denial
          Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

The Speech
          Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

Public Service Announcement/Broadband

Water Aid
          Water Aid.org

Big Fun with Global Warming
          Project 3650.org / Sierra Club

If You Don't Smoke, Don't Start
          IKO Productions, Inc.

Community Service Campaign

think:MTV's Break the Addiction Campaign
          MTV

Rap It Up
          The Kaiser Family Foundation/BET

Go Green! A Family Matters Earth Day Special
          Providence Health System/Rodda Paint/24 Hour Fitness

The Hidden Epidemic: Heart Disease in America
          WGBH Educational Foundation

mtvU's Half of Us Campaign
          mtvU

Community Service Campaign/Broadband

Global Warming: Fact or Fiction?
          Team GAIA

Think: MTV's think HIV
          MTV / Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

dLife
          LifeMed Media

The National Television Academy is a professional service organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, educational and technical achievements within the television industry. It recognizes excellence in television with the coveted Emmy® Award for News & Documentary, Sports, Daytime, Creative Arts, Public & Community Service, Technology & Engineering/Advanced Media and Business & Financial Reporting. Excellence in Primetime programming and international programming is recognized by its affiliate, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.   Regional Emmy®s are given in 19 regions across the United States. Beyond awards, the National Television Academy has extensive educational programs including National Student Television and its Student Award for Excellence for outstanding journalistic work by high school students, as well as scholarships, publications, and major activities for both industry professionals and the viewing public.  For more information, please visit the website at www.Emmyonline.tv.