| NEW YORK (AP) _ Two prime-time series produced by the same man, ``Ally McBeal'' and ``The Practice,'' earned 1998 Peabody Awards for broadcast and cable excellence today. Linda Ellerbee was another one of 33 recipients of the annual award for her efforts to explain President Clinton's impeachment to children on her ``Nick News'' program shown on cable's Nickelodeon network. The awards, chosen from among nearly 1,300 entries, are administered by the University of Georgia's Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications. David E. Kelley produces ``Ally McBeal,'' a comedy series about a young lawyer, for Fox and ``The Practice,'' a courtroom drama series, for ABC. National Public Radio received three of the four radio awards given out, for a documentary on Paul Robeson, for the ``Performance Today'' series and for Charlayne Hunter-Gault's reporting from Africa. It is Hunter-Gault's second Peabody. CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour also won her second Peabody for her international reporting on CNN and CBS's ``60 Minutes.'' Other individual winners included Jac Venza, who has presented cultural programs like ``American Masters'' and ``Great Performances,'' and television producer Robert Halmi Sr., know for family-oriented movies like ``Alice in Wonderland.'' HBO's ``The Larry Sanders Show'' won its second Peabody award for ``Flip,'' the series' final episode. The head of Peabody's national advisory board, Neil Aronstam, said the committee pointedly made Ellerbee the only winner for coverage of the Monica Lewinsky scandal during a year the story dominated the news. ``Ellerbee's straightforward explanations to her young audience proved to be the most insightful telling of the story to children and adults alike,'' he said. |