‘South Park’ wins Peabody

ATLANTA – Comedy Central’s “South Park” won its first Peabody Award on Wednesday, winning praise from judges as TV’s boldest, most politically incorrect satirical series.

Two Gulf Coast stations that stayed on the air throughout Hurricane Katrina won awards as well, and CNN and NBC were also honored for their coverage of the deadly storm.

WWL-TV, which judges said was the only New Orleans station to broadcast in the city through the hurricane and its aftermath, and WLOX-TV, which kept Biloxi, Miss., residents informed even after broadcasters were forced to the halls when the roof of their building was blown off, were both recognized for their coverage.

The George Foster Peabody Awards, for broadcasting excellence in both news and entertainment, are given annually by the University of Georgia. Thirty-two awards will be handed out June 5 in New York.

“South Park” was praised as a show that “pushes all the buttons, turns up the heat and shatters every taboo,” Peabody Awards Director Horace Newcomb said. “Through that process of offending it reminds us of the need for being tolerant.”