Today, NBC News’ pioneering morning news program, has won the Peabody Institutional Award. For over 70 years, Today’s live broadcasts have provided viewers with entertaining and important top-of-the-day connections to news, politics, celebrity, sports, home life, and weather. Selected by the Peabody Board of Jurors, the Institutional Award recognizes institutions and organizations, as well as series and programs, for their enduring body of work and their iconic impact on both the media landscape and the public imagination.
“For nearly three quarters of a century, Today has been a morning staple for millions of Americans and a consistent cultural touchstone for deeply moving human stories, groundbreaking news, and daily joy,” said Jeffrey Jones, executive director of Peabody. “We’re thrilled to recognize the program not only for their decades of stellar reporting and storytelling, but also for their undeniable impact on culture and an informed public.”
Since the program’s premiere broadcast on January 14, 1952, Today’s hallmark has been its ability to bring viewers breaking news as it happens. Today delivered immediate coverage of such news events as the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, the tsunami that wreaked havoc in a dozen Asian nations, and the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The show is also a staple in people’s homes as viewers busy themselves with morning routines, providing a charismatic and affable team of on-screen personalities who engage viewers with an array of topics, including parenting, fashion, cooking, relationships, homemaking, health, travel, personal finance, and musical performances.
Recent winners of the Institutional Award include Fresh Air with Terry Gross, ARRAY, The Simpsons, 60 Minutes, Sesame Street, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Kartemquin Films, Frontline, and ITVS.
This year’s Peabody Award nominees will be announced over the course of two days on April 11 and April 13. The Trailblazer Award and Career Achievement Award winners will be announced on April 20. All winners will be celebrated live at the 83rd Annual Peabody Awards which is set to take place for the first time ever in Los Angeles on June 11.
South Korea fines Meta $15 million for illegally collecting information on Facebook users
South Korea's privacy watchdog on Tuesday fined social media company Meta 21.6 billion won ($15 million) for illegally collecting sensitive personal information from Facebook users, including data about their political views and sexual orientation, and sharing it with thousands of advertisers.
It was the latest in a series of penalties against Meta by South Korean authorities in recent years as they increase their scrutiny of how the company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, handles private information.
Following a four-year investigation, South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission concluded that Meta unlawfully collected sensitive information about around 980,000 Facebook users, including their religion, political views and whether they were in same-sex unions, from July 2018 to March 2022.
It said the company shared the data with around 4,000 advertisers.
South Korea's privacy law provides strict protection for information related to personal beliefs, political views and sexual behavior, and bars companies from processing or using such data without the specific consent of the person involved.
The commission said Meta amassed sensitive information by analyzing the pages the Facebook users liked or the advertisements they clicked on.
The company categorized ads to identify users interested in themes such as specific religions, same-sex and transgender issues, and issues related to North Korean escapees, said Lee Eun Jung, a director at the commission who led the investigation on Meta.
"While Meta collected this sensitive information and used it for individualized services, they made only vague mentions of this use in their data policy and did not obtain specific consent," Lee said.
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