A video series by GlobalPost, featuring several productions by Science Communication Program graduate Solana Pyne, received a 2011 George Foster Peabody Award for distinguished achievement in electronic media.
The award—the oldest prize for broadcast and online reporting—recognizes the GlobalPost series "On Location," which took viewers behind the scenes of vital societal stories in 34 countries during 2011.
Pyne, the senior video producer for GlobalPost, worked on four of the winning segments. She filmed, produced, and reported "On Location New York City: Suicide Burning," and she was the senior producer and a writer and editor for "On Location Sirte: Sirte Falls, Libya looks to the future." Pyne also was senior producer for "On Location Lebanon: Inside Assad's dungeons" and "On Location Rio de Janeiro: Rio's anti-crack campaign."
The packages, each three to five minutes long, are available online in this news release from GlobalPost. Other videos among the nine submitted entries were produced by Pyne's predecessor at GlobalPost, Mark Scheffler.
Currently based in New York, Pyne has reported internationally from Cambodia, Morocco, and Brazil. Her broadcast career began at New York City CNN affiliate NY1 News, where she reported on criminal justice. She also worked as an associate producer for the science documentary series NOVA, produced at WGBH-TV in Boston.
Pyne came to UC Santa Cruz with a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in literature and creative writing from UC San Diego. Upon graduating from the program in 2001, she worked as a reporting intern at Newsday, Discover, and The Village Voice.
The Peabody Awards, established in 1940, are considered the most prestigious honors in radio, television, and online media. The Peabody Board cited the GlobalPost team for focusing "on news and events neglected or ignored by other media outlets."
