WETA Earns Three National Capital Emmy Nominations For Local Production and Two Special Awards

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS-NCCB) has recognized WETA, the leading public broadcasting station in the nation’s capital, with three National Capital Emmy nominations for their production Washington in the ‘60s, announced last night at a nomination event. Additionally, NATAS-NCCB announced in April two Special Awards associated with WETA. The WETA weekly national public affairs series Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal will receive the 2010 Board of Governors Award and WETA Studio Supervisor and Technician Glynda Bates will be inducted into the prestigious Silver Circle. All honors will be presented by NATAS-NCCB at The 52nd EMMY® Awards on Saturday, June 5, 2010 at The Ritz-Carlton, 1150 22nd Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

“We are delighted that Washington Week, Glynda and our local television staff have been recognized in such a manner,” said Sharon Percy Rockefeller, president and CEO of WETA. “For close to fifty years, WETA has served the people of Virginia, Maryland and the District with programs of intellectual integrity and cultural merit. These special awards and nominations represent the span of our station and staff’s dedicated service and the high quality we consistently aim to deliver.”

WETA Receives Three National Capital Emmy Nominations

The following are the WETA nominations:

Washington in the ‘60s, a one-hour documentary looking at the political, social and cultural events of the 1960s that shaped the history of the Washington area.

• Documentary – Historical (Category 24b), Simon Epstein, WETA Producer and Jacqueline Todt, WETA Executive Producer

• Audio – Post Production (Category 34), Antonio Pacheco, WETA Audio Engineer

• Editor – Program (Non-News) (Category 38), Doug Johncox, WETA Editor

“We congratulate the WETA Television nominees for The 52nd EMMY Awards,” said Kevin Harris, vice president and television station manager at WETA. “WETA Television’s commitment to producing educational, informative and entertaining local television is demonstrated in the collective work of these individuals and the entire WETA team that delivers programs and services to the Greater Washington community.”

Washington Week Wins 2010 Board of Governors Award

Washington Week’s Board of Governors Award, as described by NATAS-NCCB, “reaches beyond those usually awarded for television news and production. This award recognizes achievements by individuals, organizations or companies in community service or other worthwhile endeavors within the National Capital Chesapeake Bay’s region. Historically, the Board of Governors Award is presented for truly outstanding achievement and unique accomplishment of some duration and durability.”

Washington Week was created in 1967 as a local program by WETA and has always been characterized by depth, balance and civil discourse. It began to air nationally in 1969 on what was then the new Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The journalists who cover the halls of power in Washington gather each Friday evening to report and analyze the news of the day and its impact on the lives of Americans across the country. Washington Week is seen each Friday night on more than 300 PBS stations nationwide and on WETA TV 26 in Washington, D.C. at 8 p.m. Moderator Gwen Ifill is one of the country’s most esteemed journalists; in addition to her role at the helm of Washington Week, Ifill is also a senior correspondent for PBS NewsHour.

“To be honored in our hometown with this award is a privilege,” said Jeff Bieber, executive producer for Washington Week. “For 42 years, Washington Week has been a trusted source for analysis of the week’s news, and acknowledgement such as this reminds us of our purpose and impact.”

Longtime WETA Technician Inducted into Silver Circle

Glynda Bates’ Silver Circle induction recognizes a remarkable career. The Silver Circle, established in 1987, honors individuals devoting 25 years or more to the broadcasting industry. This year’s honorees join a distinguished group of professionals who have made outstanding contributions to television in the Washington, D.C., area spanning from Baltimore through Richmond. These leaders, in their unique ways, have inspired excellence and innovation in every communications discipline. With the induction of this year’s 2009 honorees, the Silver Circle will have recognized 208 individuals.

Bates began working at WETA in 1973 as a secretary on their program Cover to Cover, a children’s show promoting literacy. Yet her path to WETA started earlier when, in 1970, as a school teacher in San Augustine, Texas, a friend who worked at Dallas public broadcaster KERA told Bates that a new movie being released was based on a book by Jim Lehrer. Lehrer at the time was KERA-TV’s executive director of public affairs, on-air host and editor of a nightly news program. When Lehrer was called to Washington to work for the National Public Affairs Center for Television (NPACT) with Robin MacNeil, Bates’ friend relocated for the new job. A visit by Bates to that same friend introduced Bates to the Greater Washington region, and she has stayed ever since, working at the same organization as Jim Lehrer.

At WETA, Bates’ career developed with the technology, and she soon ran the new prompter system. Her work has encompassed the WETA productions PBS NewsHour and Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal, as well as the In Performance at the White House series, with memorable encounters with former First Lady Nancy Reagan and performers such as Jazz singer Sarah Vaughn, dancer/choreographer Mikhail Baryshnikov, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and many others.

Upon learning of her induction to the Silver Circle, Bates remarked, “I am a lucky person not only to have a job, but one where I love both the place and what it stands for, and also the people I work with. Thank you WETA founder Mrs. Campbell, whose commitment to education and community has been a personal inspiration.”

WETA Television is a public broadcasting station serving the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia with high-quality programming. As the leading PBS station in the nation’s capital, WETA Television broadcasts on four channels: WETA TV 26, WETA HD, WETA Kids and WETA Create. WETA Television celebrates the people and history of this region through programs such as WETA All Access, WETA Around Town and WETA Extras. For national PBS audiences, WETA produces the critically acclaimed PBS NewsHour and Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal; history films by Ken Burns such as the upcoming BASEBALL: The Tenth Inning, premiering this September 28 and 29; and performance specials from the U.S. Capitol, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the White House. WETA headquarters are located in Arlington, Virginia. More information on WETA and its programs and services is available at www.weta.org.

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