Crossing East at the Peabody Event !

MediaRites returned from the whirlwind event at Peabody awards in NYC! A very intense and jam-packed event in the chandeliered glittery gold and red ballroom of the famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Bob Costas kept things moving and there were close to 1000 people there--including Spike Lee and Billie Jean King!

Managing Editor Catherine Stifter (left) and Marketing and Outreach Director Ping Khaw (right) stood beside Executive Producer Dmae Roberts during the speech. Catherine urged Dmae to say something meaningful in the 30-second allotment. (see speech below) Ping, Dmae and Ben de la Cruz from Washington Post.com were the only Asians among 35 winners. There were very few Asians in the audience. What a proud moment it was for MediaRites that Crossing East won this year and could bring awareness to this mass mainstream audience of radio and TV producers.

PEABODY AWARDS SPEECH GIVEN BY DMAE ROBERTS...

"While producing Crossing East, it became clear that America has had a love/hate relationship with immigrants of color. Asians on the west coast were detained for up to two years and interrogated daily while European immigrants were allowed to freely come. The American West is lined with the unmarked graves of Asian laborers who built the Transcontinental railroad. Yet most Asians were not allowed to bring families legally until 1965.This award is not only a recognition of the need for Asian American programming in public radio but it also calls attention that most of us are immigrants or descendants of immigrants. And we need laws not to exclude but to embrace the human fact that we all share the same wants, the same needs, the same hopes and dreams. Thank you for this honor today…"

Here's a complete list of Peabody Award winners... And here are some photos from the Waldorf Astoria and the Peabody event.

Ben de la Cruz with Dmae won for his innovative and interactive website "Being a Black Man" on Washington Post.com	Spike Lee won for "When the Levees Broke." He gave a moving speech about the crisis in New Orleans.	Catherine Stifter and Dmae with veteran producer Scott Carrier for HearingVoices.com
Billie Jean King was there with the producer of "Billy Jean King: Portrait of a Pioneer" on HBO	ABC's Brian Ross with Dmae, Catherine and Richard Jensen, Dmae's husband. Investigative Reporter Ross won for "Conduct Unbecoming."	Catherine and Dmae with Ira Glass who won for "Habeas Schmabeas" on This American Life.