Michelle Carroll of Flintstone and a student at the University of Georgia will help judge the 2010 Peabody Awards.

Established in 1940 and administered by UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Peabody Awards are the oldest honor in television and radio. The Peabodys now recognize distinguished achievement and meritorious public service by TV and radio stations, networks, producing organizations, individuals and the World Wide Web.

The initial evaluation of entries – more than 1,000 this year -- is done by committees comprised of two UGA faculty or staff members and a student chosen on the basis of his or her critical writing skills. They’re charged with screening the submissions – from entertainment programs to documentaries to public-service campaigns – and delivering written recommendations to the Peabody Awards board of directors, a 15-member panel of scholars, critics and media-industry professionals that will meet at UGA the last week in March to make its final deliberations.

“The work of the student and faulty/staff committees is crucial to the efforts of the Peabody Board,” said Horace Newcomb, director of the Peabody Awards. “It’s a key aspect of our careful judging process.”

All entries become a permanent part of the Peabody Archive in the University of Georgia Libraries. The collection is one of the nation’s oldest, largest and most respected audio and moving-image archives. For more information about the Peabody Archive or the Peabody Awards, visit www.peabody.uga.edu.

The recipients of the 69th annual Peabody Awards will be announced March 31. The formal awards ceremony will take place May 17 in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. Diane Sawyer, anchor of ABC’s “World News,” will be the emcee.