Raney Aronson-Rath
American journalist
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Raney Aronson-Rath produces Frontline, PBS's flagship investigative journalism series. She has been internationally recognized for her work to expand the PBS series' original investigative journalism[2] and directs the editorial development and execution of the series. Aronson-Rath joined Frontline in 2007 as a senior producer. She was named deputy executive producer by David Fanning, the series’ founder, in 2012, and then became executive producer in 2015.[3]
Education
Aronson-Rath earned a bachelor's degree in South Asian studies and history from the University of Wisconsin. She received her master's from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.[4]
Career
Early in her professional life, Aronson-Rath worked in Taipei, Taiwan, for a small, English-language daily newspaper, The China Post, where she decided to commit to a career in journalism.[5] Later, Aronson-Rath developed and managed more than a dozen journalistic partnerships with news outlets, including ProPublica, Marketplace, PBS NewsHour, The New York Times, CBC Television, and Univision.[6]
Moving to TV news production, Aronson-Rath worked on award-winning series at ABC News, The Wall Street Journal, and MSNBC. She also produced, directed, and wrote several award-winning Frontline films, including News War, The Last Abortion Clinic, and The Jesus Factor.
Aronson-Rath officially joined Frontline in 2007. In 2012, she was named Deputy Editor of Frontline by David Fanning, and Executive Producer in 2015, the position she holds today.[7] She has earned new funding to expand Frontline’s investigative capacity, including the launch of a YouTube channel with original content, a commitment to interactive projects,[8] as well as a film initiative focused on accountability for institutions and public officials called the Transparency Project.[9]
Aronson-Rath currently serves on the Knight Commission on Trust, Media, and Democracy, the Board of Visitors for Columbia University’s Journalism school, and the advisory board of Columbia Global Reports.[10]
She has received numerous accolades for producing the documentary feature film 20 Days in Mariupol, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival[11] and won the Best Documentary Feature Award at the 96th Academy Awards.[12] At Sundance, the film won the Sundance World Cinema Documentary Competition.[13][14][15] It was also selected as the Ukrainian submission for the Best International Feature Film Oscar, but was not ultimately nominated in this category.[16][17]
Awards and honors
Aronson-Rath was a 2014-2015 Fellow at the MIT Open Doc Lab.[18] Aronson-Rath has been a speaker at the Skoll World Forum,[19] the Aspens Ideas Summit,[20] The National Scholastic Press Association's High School Journalism Convention, the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and The Power of Narrative Journalism Conference.[21]
Since 2015, Frontline has won many accolades under her direction, including the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film,[22] The Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award, IRE Awards, The George Foster Peabody Award,[23] Peabody-Facebook Futures of Media Award,[24] the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Emmy Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, the Overseas Press Club Awards, The Scripps Howard Award,[25] and Writer's Guild Awards,[26] and the 2019 dupont-Columbia Gold Baton award,[27] among others.
She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2024.[28]
Academy Awards
| Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Best Documentary Feature Film | 20 Days in Mariupol | Won | |
Emmy Awards
| Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| News & Documentary Emmy Awards | ||||
| 2009 | Outstanding Investigative Journalism - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "Rules of Engagement") | Nominated | |
| 2010 | Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "A Death in Tehran") | Won | |
| Outstanding Investigative Journalism - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "The Warning") | Won | ||
| 2011 | Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "The Spill") | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Informational Programming - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "The Confessions") | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Investigative Journalism - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "Law & Disorder") | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "The Wounded Platoon") | Nominated | ||
| Frontline (for ep. "The Quake") | Nominated | |||
| 2012 | Outstanding Interview | Frontline (for ep. "The Spy Who Quit") | Nominated | |
| Frontline (for ep. "The Interrogator") | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Investigative Journalism - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "The Anthrax Files") | Nominated | ||
| Frontline (for ep. "A Perfect Terrorist") | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Investigative Journalism in a News Magazine | Frontline (for ep. "The Child Cases") | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "Wikisecrets") | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a News Magazine | Frontline (for ep. "Syria Undercover") (Tied) | Won | ||
| Frontline (for ep. "Revolution in Cairo") (Tied) | Won | |||
| 2013 | Outstanding Informational Programming - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "The Suicide Plan") | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Informational Programming - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "The Suicide Plan") | Nominated | ||
| Frontline (for ep. "The Interrupters") | Won | |||
| Outstanding Investigative Journalism - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "Dollars and Dentists") | Nominated | ||
| Frontline (for ep. "Big Sky, Big Money") | Won | |||
| Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "Inside Japan's Nuclear Meltdown") | Won | ||
| Frontline (for ep. "Poor Kids") | Nominated | |||
| Frontline (for ep. "Climate of Doubt") | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting in a News Magazine | Frontline (for ep. "Cell Tower Deaths") | Nominated | ||
| Frontline (for ep. "Six Billion Dollar Bet") | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Investigative Journalism in a News Magazine | Frontline (for ep. "Opium Brides") | Won | ||
| Outstanding Feature Story in a News Magazine | Frontline (for ep. "Opium Brides") | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "Money, Power and Wall Street") | Won | ||
| Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story in a News Magazine | Frontline (for ep. "Al Qaeda in Yemen") | Nominated | ||
| Frontline (for ep. "The Regime Responds") | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a News Magazine | Frontline (for ep. The Battle for Syria") | Won | ||
| 2014 | Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "The Retirement Gamble") | Won | |
| Outstanding Coverage of a Current News Story - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "Egypt in Crisis") | Nominated | ||
| Frontline (for ep. "Syria Behind the Lines") | Won | |||
| Outstanding Investigative Journalism - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis") | Nominated | ||
| Frontline (for ep. "A Death in St. Augustine") | Nominated | |||
| Frontline (for ep. "Rape in the Fields") | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Informational Programming - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "Outlawed in Pakistan") | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "The Untouchables") | Nominated | ||
| 2015 | Outstanding Documentary | Frontline (for ep. "United States of Secrets") | Won | |
| Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "To Catch a Trader") | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Investigative Journalism - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "Firestone and the Warlord") | Won | ||
| Outstanding Coverage of a Current News Story - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "United States of Secrets: Part 1 & 2") | Won | ||
| Frontline (for ep. "The Rise of ISIS") | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Investigative Journalism in a News Magazine | Frontline (for ep. "Hunting Boko Haram") | Won | ||
| Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a News Magazine | Frontline (for ep. "The Battle for Ukraine") | Won | ||
| Frontline (for ep. "Ebola Outbreak") | Nominated | |||
| 2016 | Outstanding New Approaches - Current News Coverage | Frontline | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Documentary | Frontline (for ep. "Growing Up Trans") | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Report in a News Magazine | Frontline (for ep. "ISIS in Afghanistan") | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story in a News Magazine | Won | |||
| Outstanding Investigative Journalism - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "Terror in Little Saigon") | Nominated | ||
| Frontline (for ep. "Rape on the Night Shift") | Nominated | |||
| Frontline (for ep. "My Brother's Bomber") | Won | |||
| Outstanding Informational Programming - Long Form | Frontline (for ep. "Gunned Down: The Power of the NRA") | Won | ||
| Frontline (for ep. "Being Mortal") | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story in a News Magazine | Frontline (for ep. "Secrets, Politics and Torture") | Nominated | ||
| Frontline (for ep. "Inside Assad's Syria") | Nominated | |||
| Frontline (for ep. "Outbreak") | Won | |||
| 2017 | Outstanding Documentary | Frontline (for ep. "Children of Syria") | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary | Won | |||
| Frontline (for ep. "Confronting ISIS") | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Story in a Newsmagazine | Frontline (for ep. "Yemen Under Siege") | Won | ||
| Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story in a News Magazine | Won | |||
| Outstanding Politics and Government Documenta | Frontline (for ep. "The Choice 2016") | Won | ||
| Outstanding Investigative Documentary | Frontline (for ep. "The Secret History of ISIS") | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Social Issue Documentary | Frontline (for ep. "Chasing Heroin") | Nominated | ||
| Policing the Police | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Feature Story in a News Magazine | A Subprime Education/The Education of Omarina | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary | The Fantasy Sports Gamble | Nominated | ||
| 2018 | Outstanding Story in a Newsmagazine | Frontline (for ep. "Inside Yemen") | Nominated | |
| Frontline (for ep. "Battle for Iraq") | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Documentary | Frontline (for ep. "Putin's Revenge") | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Short Documentary | Frontline (for ep. "Mosul") | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary | Frontline (for ep. "Abacus: Small Enough to Jail") | Won | ||
| Outstanding Investigative Documentary | Frontline (for ep. "Iraq Uncovered") | Nominated | ||
| Frontline (for ep. "War on the EPA") | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary | Frontline (for ep. "Abacus: Small Enough to Jail") | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story in a News Magazine | Frontline (for ep. "Bannon's War") | Nominated | ||
| 2019 | Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary | Frontline (for ep. "Separated: Children at the Border") | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary | Frontline (for ep. "The Pension Gamble") | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Investigative Documentary | Frontline (for ep. Documenting Hate") | Won | ||
| Frontline (for ep."UN Sex Abuse Scandal") | Nominated | |||
| Frontline (for ep. "Myanmar's Killing Fields") | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary | Frontline (for ep. "The Facebook Dilemma") | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Documentary | Frontline (for ep. "Exodus: The Journey Continues") | Nominated | ||
| 2020 | Outstanding Historical Documentary | Frontline | Nominated | |
| 2021 | Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting - Long Form | Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos | Won | |
| Outstanding Investigative Documentary | Return from ISIS | Nominated | ||
| 2022 | Outstanding Business, Consumer or Economic Coverage | Frontline (for ep. "Boeing's Fatal Flaw") | Won | |
| Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary | Frontline (for ep. "tt14875370") | Nominated | ||
| 2024 | Best Documentary | Frontline | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary | Frontline (for ep. "#42.4") | Nominated | ||
Other awards and nominations
| Award | Year | Category | Work(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peabody Awards | 2019 | Documentary Honor | For Sama | Won | |
| 2023 | Documentary Honor | 20 Days in Mariupol | Won | ||
| News Honor | Clarence and Ginni Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme Court | Won | |||
| Public Service Honor | America and the Taliban | Won | |||
| 2024 | Public Service Honor | Frontline | Won | ||
| Writers Guild of America Awards | 2006 | Outstanding Television Documentary Script – Current Events | Frontline (for ep. "The Soldier's Heart") | Nominated | |
| 2006 | Frontline (for ep. "News War Part 1: Secrets Sources and Spin") | Nominated | |||