Last week, for the third year in a row, the Television Critics Association – which “represents more than 200 journalists writing about television for print and online outlets in the United States and Canada” – nominated MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow for their annual award for “Outstanding Achievement in News and Information.”
The left-wing host is the only consistent nominee in the category over the past three years -- though she has yet to win. CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS hosts and programs have earned nominations over the years, but no one at the Fox News Channel has ever been nominated per the association’s press releases posted back to 2002.
Another favorite of liberals, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, which won in 2004, has been nominated in two of the past three years. PBS’s Frontline and CBS’s 60 Minutes are perennial nominees.
The 2012 “Outstanding Achievement in News and Information” nominees:
Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN)
The Daily Show (Comedy Central)
Frontline (PBS)
60 Minutes (CBS)
The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC)
For 2011:
If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise (HBO)
Restrepo (National Geographic Channel)
60 Minutes (CBS)
The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC)
30 for 30 (ESPN)
For 2010:
30 for 30 (ESPN)
America: The Story of Us (History Channel)
Life (Discovery Channel)
The Daily Show (Comedy Central)
The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC)
The winners, dominated by PBS’s Frontline, over the past ten years:
2001-02 Frontline (PBS)
2002-03 Frontline (PBS)
2003-04 The Daily Show (Comedy Central)
2004-05 Frontline (PBS)
2005-06 Frontline (PBS)
2006-07 Planet Earth (Discovery)
2007-08 The War: A Film by Ken Burns & Lynn Novick (PBS)
2008-09 The Alzheimer’s Project (HBO)
2009-10 Life (Discovery)
2010-11 Restrepo (National Geographic Channel)