40th Annual News and Documentary Emmys: 60 Minutes and Vice News Tonight Are Most-Awarded Programs; Andrea Mitchell Receives Lifetime Achievement

By A.J. Katz 

The 40th annual News and Documentary Emmys took place last night, and HBO, once again, came out the winner with 10 awards. PBS snared nine awards during last night’s affair at the Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. CBS came in third with six Emmy wins, and CNN Worldwide nabbed five.

PBS led all networks with 47 nominations, with 12 for Independent Lens and 10 for Frontline.

Speaking of programming – 60 Minutes was the most-nominated program with 23. Vice News Tonight followed with 18 noms.

A newscast in transition, Vice News Tonight nabbed an impressive five wins last night, most of any nightly newscast for the second consecutive year. Its five wins were tied with 60 Minutes for most of any program.

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“Vice News Tonight is leading the charge in broadcast news with its unparalleled international reporting across Yemen and Iraq, and distinctive coverage of the issues dividing our country today,” executive producer Madeleine Haeringer said in a statement. “I’m beyond proud of this incredible team who are breaking through the media landscape with their compelling, brave journalism.”

Vice News Tonight’s move to Vice Media’s cable channel Viceland later this fall, and its flagship programming block coincides with expansion of its news division, led by the Washington DC bureau’s growth by over 50% this year.

ABC World News Tonight Weekend anchor and chief national affairs correspondent Tom Llamas headed across the street to emcee the ceremony.

NBC’s chief foreign correspondent and MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell, who has called NBC home for more than 40 years, was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award “for her groundbreaking 50-year career covering domestic and international affairs.” Her NBC News Washington bureau colleague Kristen Welker introduced and presented her with the award.

“She’s unstoppable. She’s relentless. She’s the one to beat. A shining example of journalism at its best…and she’s not just a friend to so many  – but a hands on mentor,” said Welker.

NBC News made a tribute video to celebrate Mitchell, with congratulatory messages from former U.S. secretaries of state Colin Powell, Madeline Albright, Condoleezza Rice and John Kerry.

“That was a great tour of my hair color!” Mitchell later quipped, before giving some more serious acceptance remarks.

None of us achieves anything on our own in this business, television news is a team sport. I owe everything to my mentors at NBC and MSNBC, [NBC News chairman] Andy Lack, [NBC News president] Noah Oppenheim and [MSNBC president] Phil Griffin.

To my anchors and colleagues over the years: David Brinkley, Tom Brokaw, Brian Willians, Lester Holt, and Chuck Todd. And of course, the heart and soul of our Washington bureau, Tim Russert. But in particular tonight I want to speak about the women who have taught me so much, especially Jenn Suozzo, Libby Leist, Michelle Perry, Yvette Miley, Rashida Jones and the great Savannah Guthrie.

I owe a special debt to a sisterhood of broadcast pioneers: Lesley Stahl, Judy Woodruff, my great friend, – and most memorably, Cokie Roberts. Cokie represented the best of New Orleans and Washington, having been nurtured in the south but raised – literally – in the halls of Congress. Watching her on This Week or listening to her on NPR, people were drawn to her enchanting laugh, her keen wit, her fundamental kindness and empathy. She was a founding mother not only of NPR, but of all us women journalists in Washington.

We are in an entirely new environment. In my experience during more than four decades covering the White House, Congress and national security in seven administrations, politics was invariably adversarial. But this is different. Now we are called “the enemy of the people.” Our credibility as journalists is deliberately targeted as part of a re-election strategy. Today, time-honored norms are ignored: Press secretaries and senior officials deliver “alternative facts.” Traditions such as White House briefings, State Department expanded travel pools, and formal news conferences are replaced by shouted exchanges on the South Lawn, often drowned out by the whirling rotor blades of Marine One…

Winners from some of the most notable categories can be found below. For a full list of winners, click here.

Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a Newscast

HBO – Vice News Tonight – Moment of Truth: Kavanaugh and Ford

Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story in a Newscast

HBO – Vice News Tonight – Yemen’s Forgotten War

Outstanding Feature Story in a Newscast

HBO – Vice News Tonight – Zero Tolerance

Outstanding Hard News Feature Story in a Newscast

PBS – PBS NewsHour – Yemen’s Spiraling Hunger Crisis is a Man-Made Disaster

Outstanding Investigative Report in a Newscast

PBS – PBS NewsHour – Rape, Harassment and Retaliation in the U.S. Forest Service: Women Firefighters Tell Their Stories

Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a Newsmagazine

CBS – 60 Minutes – The Students of Stoneman Douglas

Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story in a Newsmagazine

CBS – 60 Minutes – War Crime

Outstanding Feature Story in a Newsmagazine

CBS – 60 Minutes – The Legacy of Lynching

Outstanding Investigative Report in a Newsmagazine

Al Jazeera International USA – Fault Lines – Adoption Inc.

Outstanding Breaking News Coverage

ABC – ABC News Special Events – Hurricane Michael

Outstanding News Special

CBS – 48 Hours & CBS This Morning – 39 Days

Outstanding News Discussion & Analysis

CNN – AC360 – Finding Hope: Battling America’s Suicide Crisis

Outstanding Live Interview

CNN – Amanpour – Archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, interviewed by Christiane Amanpour

Outstanding Edited Interview

NBC – Dateline NBC – Bringing Down Bill Cosby: Andrea Constand Speaks

Outstanding Science, Medical and Environmental Report

The Weather Channel – AMHQ – Dangers of Tornadoes Depicted Through Immersive Mixed Reality

Outstanding Arts, Culture and Entertainment Report

Great Big Story – Art and Soul

Outstanding Business, Consumer and Economic Report

The Weather Channel Digital, Telemundo Network and Efran Films – Hidden Cost: Our Laws Have Not Kept Up With the Climate

Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary

HBO – HBO Documentary Films – It Will Be Chaos

Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary

World Channel – Doc World – Armed With Faith

Outstanding Social Issue Documentary

Hulu – Crime + Punishment

Outstanding Investigative Documentary

PBS – Frontline – Documenting Hate

Outstanding Historical Documentary

HBO – HBO Documentary Films – King in the Wilderness

Outstanding Arts & Culture Documentary

PBS – Independent Lens – I Am Not Your Negro

Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary

National Geographic – Science Fair

Outstanding Nature Documentary

CNN – CNN Films – Trophy

Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary

HBO – Vice Special Report – Panic: The Untold Story of the 2008 Financial Crisis

Outstanding Short Documentary

them / Condé Nast Entertainment – Trans in America: Texas Strong

Best Story in a Newscast

HBO – Vice News Tonight – Yemen’s Forgotten War

Best Story in a Newsmagazine

CBS – 60 Minutes – War Crime

Best Documentary

HBO – HBO Documentary Films – I Am Evidence

Outstanding Newscast or Newsmagazine in Spanish

Telemundo – Noticias Telemundo Mediodia (Telemundo News at Noon)

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