ATHENS, Ga. – First the Oscars and now the Peabodys. Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's award-winning fake news program "The Daily Show" and host of the Academy Awards earlier this month, will host the Peabody Awards ceremony June 5 in New York City.
"Jon Stewart will provide a refreshing combination of journalistic smarts and comic genius to our ceremony," Horace Newcomb, director of the Peabody Awards, said in the statement. "He has an enormous respect for the Peabody culture, so who better to host our landmark 65th anniversary celebration?"
Stewart is a two-time Peabody Award winner for "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Indecision 2000" and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Indecision 2004."
The Peabody board said he provides "the kind of cathartic satire that deflates pomposity on an equal opportunity basis. Somehow this sharp commentary makes the real issues more important than ever."
Peabody Award winners for original broadcast, cablecast and webcast programs presented in 2005 will be announced via Web cast and satellite two months earlier on April 5 from the University of Georgia, according to a university news release.
The awards, the oldest in broadcasting, are considered among the most prestigious and selective prizes in electronic media.
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