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The increasing sophistication of technology presents challenges, from social media to AI, but it can also help to tell great stories in new ways, as this year’s Peabody-recognized interactive works show. These pieces use cutting-edge storytelling tools such as interactive maps, video interviews, games, and participatory social media to tell crucial stories about mental health, climate change, war crimes, immigration, and more.
86th Annual Peabody Award Winners in Immersive & Interactive
This social video series by the Atlanta Journal Constitution documents the effects of an immigration-enforcement sweep on communities and individuals in Georgia, garnering 2.8 million views online. Through intimate vertical video, body camera footage, and firsthand accounts, it shows the human-level impact of the actions on the families of the detained and documents wrongful arrests of U.S. citizens. What began with stories of a Trump-voting family whose son was detained and a Georgia-born man wrongfully arrested as an “unauthorized alien” evolved into a portrait of federal power colliding with local lives, published in the same year the newsroom ended its 157-year print run.
Where to Watch: TikTok
In 2005, a squad of U.S. Marines in Iraq encountered an I.E.D. that killed one soldier and injured two others. For the next few hours, Marines killed 24 Iraqis in the surrounding area, all of them civilians—men, women, and children. This New Yorker interactive investigation, along with the publication’s podcast In the Dark, reveals how U.S. government inquiries into the incident failed and probes what really happened that day in Haditha despite many contradictory accounts. Drawing on hundreds of sources, the documentary uses meticulous reporting and 3D reconstruction to examine the killings in cinematic detail, unravel contradictions, and pursue the truth.
Where to Watch: NewYorker.com
The game South of Midnight follows Hazel, a young woman searching for her missing mother after a hurricane hits their town of Prospero, Louisiana. On her journey, she encounters mythical creatures and folklore from Southern culture while she faces generational trauma and grief in the wake of the disaster. The 12-hour action-adventure game itself features combat sequences and puzzle-solving as Hazel uses her magical weaving abilities to stop evil spirits, and an authentic blues, bluegrass, and gospel soundtrack.
Where to Play: Compulsion Games
In this feature-length investigation, Al Jazeera composes a clear and damning record of Israeli war crimes—by simply editing together photos and videos posted online by Israeli soldiers themselves. In its database of thousands of videos, photos, and social media posts, the news organization has, when possible, identified the posters and those who appear as they destroy entire neighborhoods, loot, and kill. This material is supplemented by the stories of Palestinian journalists, human rights workers, and residents in Gaza, as well as evidence of Western governments’ complicity in the conflict.
Where to Watch: YouTube
86th Annual Peabody Award Nominees in Immersive & Interactive
This 11-part online documentary video series shows how farmers are grazing cattle in ways similar to how bison herds once grazed the Great Plains of North America, a technique that results in some of the world’s richest soils. The accompanying website organizes the videos by state on an interactive map and explains in simple, accessible terms how the process works and why it’s effective. As a whole, the work offers explanations and solutions to promote the environmentally friendly practice from a group that says “it doesn’t even care if you believe in climate change,” making it a model for practical, nonpartisan action.
Where to Watch: CarbonCowboys.org
This CNN multimedia piece features children in Gaza reflecting on the loss of their prime education years to war as their schools are bombed and their educational system decimated by the widespread local destruction. Videos, maps, and photos show the children who are trying to learn despite the carnage, without internet or even electricity. “UNICEF estimated that 13% of teachers in Gaza had been killed or injured as of August 2024,” the report says. “Education, although vital, is inevitably further down the list of priorities for Gazans than ensuring their health, sustenance and shelter.”
Where to Read: CNN.com
Consume Me takes players inside the life of a teenage girl as she struggles with body image and diet culture. It follows Jenny into her senior year of high school as she navigates homework, chores, a boyfriend, college applications, and an obsession with her appearance and weight. Developed by an indie team led by Jenny Jiao Hsia, the game simulates routine tasks like exercising, applying makeup, and walking the dog, presenting meals as Tetris-like challenges that weigh calorie counts and rules against internal and external pressures.
Where to Play: Apple App Store
The last three years of Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza have brought a steady stream of reports of carnage, making it hard to pay attention to its devastating effects on a human level. This multimedia NPR investigation concentrates on one incident: an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza that killed 132 people from one extended family. Through videos, photos, interviews, and interactive family trees, NPR demonstrates the profound loss suffered by the Abu Naser family, which owned and lived in an apartment building in the targeted area.
Where to Read: NPR.org