Peabodys honor 9/11 themes

Three HBO programs, two editions of ABC News’ “Nightline” and eight PBS programs are among the shows singled out for the 2002 George Foster Peabody Awards, which honor excellence in radio and television.

In all, 31 programs, four of them related to the Sept. 11 terror attacks, were cited for recognition in the 62nd year of the awards, which will be handed out May 19. The New York ceremony will be televised nationally for the first time, on cable’s A&E.;

On cable, HBO’s series “Six Feet Under” and “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry,” as well as the historical drama “The Gathering Storm” were cited, as was CNN’s “Terror on Tape,” an examination of Al Qaeda videotapes. Broadcast programs to be honored include NBC’s “Boomtown,” Fox’s “Boston Public,” CBS’ “9/11” documentary on firefighters at the World Trade Center, and “Nightline” reports on the Congo and the recovery of Sept. 11 Pentagon burn victims.

PBS was cited for two “ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre” films, a “Frontline” documentary on the failed Oslo peace accord, programs on the fall of Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic, the Scopes Monkey Trial, Jim Crow racism and Samuel Beckett, as well as “Egg: The Arts Show.”