Leaving Neverland and Watchmen land Peabody nominations

Stirring Michael Jackson documentary Leaving Neverland and TV series Watchmen and Stranger Things are among the nominees for the Peabody Awards.

Leaving Neverland, which chronicles sexual molestation allegations made against the late King of Pop by James Safechuck and Wade Robson, will compete for the documentary prize alongside the Surviving R. Kelly series, which explores the years of misconduct claims made against the veteran R&B singer.

Other nominees in that category include 2020 Oscar Documentary (Feature) winner American Factory, Apollo 11, Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men, and For Sama.

The Entertainment section features hit series Fleabag, Watchmen, Chernobyl, Stranger Things, Succession, and When They See Us, the acclaimed Netflix miniseries from Ava DuVernay about the wrongful convictions of the Central Park Five.

Meanwhile, among those competing for the Podcast title are pop culture series Dolly Parton's America, criminal justice reform show 70 Million, and The Catch and Kill Podcast with Ronan Farrow, about how he helped to bring disgraced producer and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein to justice.

Nominations for the annual ceremony, organised by officials at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia to honour compelling and empowering TV, radio, and digital media programming from the past year, were unveiled on Wednesday.

Winners are typically celebrated at an in-person gala, but the coronavirus pandemic recently forced producers to cancel plans to stage their ceremony in Los Angeles for the first time on June 18 (20).

A new date for the winners to be unveiled has yet to be announced.