The creative team behind the Lifetime Network documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly” will receive the Los Angeles Press Club’s 2019 Presidents Awardee for Impact on Media, it was announced Wednesday.
“The `Surviving R. Kelly’ team has done what every journalist aspires to do: tell a compelling story that prompts change and that also speaks to a broader issue which needs to be addressed. Their documentary is the very definition of work we want to recognize with our President’s Award for Impact on Media,” said Press Club President Chris Palmeri, bureau chief of Bloomberg Los Angeles.
The six-part documentary detailing sexual abuse allegations against the R&B singer aired over three nights from Jan. 3-5. The following month, he was indicted on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving four alleged victims.
Brie Miranda Bryant, senior vice president of unscripted development and programming at Lifetime, and the other four executive producers of the series are expected to be on hand to accept the award at the Press Club’s 61st SoCal Journalism Awards Gala on June 30 at the Biltmore Millennium hotel, according to the Press Club.
The documentary “has propelled a movement, igniting a much needed global conversation around sexual violence that transcends both race and gender divides,” Bryant said. “This documentary is proof that powerful content can impact culture even after the hour is over. We are thankful for organizations like the LA Press Club who in recognizing this documentary, have continued to amplify the voices of these survivors.”
In addition to honoring the “Surviving R. Kelly” team, CBS2 sports anchor Jim Hill will receive the Joseph M. Quinn for Lifetime Achievement; CNN Senior International Correspondent Nima Elbagir will be presented with the Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and Integrity in Journalism; and actor Henry Winkler will accept the Bill Rosendahl Public Service Award.
The evening will be dedicated to the memory of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist who was assassinated at the Saudi-Arabian Embassy in Istanbul, Turkey, last October.