NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      NEW YORK (CWNews.com) - The Catholic group The Christophers announced the winners of its annual media awards this week, giving awards to poet Maya Angelou and director Steven Spielberg among others.

      Angelou won the award for the film "Down in the Delta" which marked her debut as a director. Spielberg was honored with his fifth Christopher Award for "Saving Private Ryan." Also winning awards in the film category were the Italian movie "Life is Beautiful" and "Smoke Signals."

      All of the winners in the film category, except "Saving Private Ryan," were distributed by Miramax Films. Miramax has come under fire in recent years from Catholic groups for distributing anti-Catholic or immoral movies including "Priest," which depicted a priest who was persecuted for being homosexual, and "Kids," which portrayed a group of high school boys keeping score as they made a series of sexual conquests.

      Five awards were also handed out in the television category and 14 awards were given to books.