# Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Documentary Script – Current Events

The Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Documentary Script – Current Events is an award presented by the Writers Guild of America to the best writing in a documentary about current events. It was first awarded at the 41st Writers Guild of America Awards, being the episode "Apartheid Part 5: 1987" from the American program Frontline the inaugural winner of the category.

## Winners and nominees
### 1980s

| Year | Program | Episode | Writer(s) | Network | Ref. |
| 1988 (41st) | Frontline | "Apartheid Part 5: 1987" | Irv Drasnin | PBS | |
| 1989 (42nd) | Secret Intelligence | Secret Intelligence | Joseph Angier and Blaine Baggett | PBS | |

### 1990s

| Year | Program | Episode | Writer(s) | Network | Ref. |
| 1990 (43rd) | Frontline | "Seven Days in Bensonhurst" | Thomas Lennon and Shelby Steele | PBS | |
| 1991 (44th) | Power in the Pacific | Power in the Pacific | Joseph Angier and Carl Byker | PBS | |
| 1992 (45th) | No award given | No award given | No award given | No award given | No award given |
| 1993 (46th) | Frontline | "The Choice '92" | Richard Ben Gramer, Thomas Lennon and Michael Epstein | PBS | |
| 1994 (47th) | No award given | No award given | No award given | No award given | No award given |
| 1995 (48th) | The Human Quest | "The Nature of Human Nature" | Roger Bingham and Carl Byker | PBS | |
| 1995 (48th) | 48 Hours | "The Rage Over Welfare" | Greg Kandra | CBS | |
| 1995 (48th) | Frontline | "Rush Lumbaugh's America" | Stephen Talbot | PBS | |
| 1995 (48th) | Frontline | "Currents of Fear" | Jon Palfreman | PBS | |
| 1996 (49th) | Frontline | "The Pilgrimage of Jesse Jackson" | Marshall Frady and Mark Zwonitzer | PBS | |
| 1996 (49th) | Primetime Live | "Judgement at Midnight" | Mark Zwonitzer | ABC | |
| 1996 (49th) | Nova | "Bombing of America" | Nancy Linde | PBS | |
| 1997 (50th) | Dateline NBC | "Why Can't We Live Together?" | Craig Leake | NBC | |
| 1997 (50th) | Frontline | "The Choice 1996" | Helen Whitney and Jane Barnes | PBS | |
| 1998 (51st) | Frontline | "Once Upon a Time in Arkansas" | Michael Kirk and Peter J. Boyer | PBS | |
| 1998 (51st) | Primetime Live | "The McCaughey Seven: A Homecoming" | Lori A. Bores | ABC | |
| 1998 (51st) | Frontline | "Busted: America's War on Marijuana" | Elena Mannes | PBS | |
| 1999 (52nd) | Frontline | "Give War A Chance" | Michael Kirk and Peter J. Boyer | PBS | |
| 1999 (52nd) | Dateline NBC | "The Greatest Generation" | Tom Brokaw and Craig Leake | NBC | |
| 1999 (52nd) | Frontline | "Surviving Aids" | Martin Smith and Lowell Bergman | PBS | |
| 1999 (52nd) | Nova | "Surviving Aids" | Elizabeth Arledge | | |
| 1999 (52nd) | The Awful Truth | "Funeral in a HMO" | Annie Cohen, Francis Gasparini, Henriette Mantel, Jay Martel, Nick McKinney and Michael Moore | Bravo | |

### 2000s

| Year | Program | Episode | Writer(s) | Network |
| 2000 (53rd) | Frontline | "John Paul II: The Millennial Pope" | Helen Whitney and Jane Barnes | PBS |
| 2000 (53rd) | The Awful Truth | "Holiday Inn Attempts to Deport Its Mexican Housekeepers for Organizing a Union" | Michael Moore and Nick McKinney | Bravo |
| 2000 (53rd) | Frontline | "Justice for Sale" | Stephen Talbot and Sheila Kaplan | PBS |
| 2000 (53rd) | Frontline | "The Killer at Thurston High" | Michael J. Kirk and Peter J. Boyer | PBS |
| 2001 (54th) | Frontline | "Drug Wars: Part 2" | Lowell Bergman, Kenneth Levism, Doug Hamilton and Oriana Zill | PBS |
| 2001 (54th) | Frontline | "Drug Wars, Part 1" | Martin Smith, Brooke Runnette and Oriana Zill | PBS |
| 2002 (55th) | 9/11 | 9/11 | Tom Forman and Greg Kandra | CBS |
| 2002 (55th) | Frontline | "The Man Who Knew" | Michael Kirk | PBS |
| 2002 (55th) | Frontline | "Rollover: The Hidden Story of the SUV" | Marc Shaffer and Barak Goodman | PBS |
| 2002 (55th) | Nova | "Bioterror" | Matthew Collins | PBS |
| 2003 (56th) | Frontline | "Truth, War and Consequences" | Martin Smith | PBS |
| 2003 (56th) | Frontline | "The War Behind Closed Doors" | Michael Kirk | PBS |
| 2004 (57th) | Frontline | "From China With Love" | Michael Kirk | PBS |
| 2004 (57th) | Last Man Standing: Politics Texas Style | "P.O.V." | Paul Stekler | PBS |
| 2005 (58th) | Frontline | "The Torture Question" | Edward Grey | PBS |
| 2005 (58th) | Someone's Watching | Someone's Watching | Michael Kirk | PBS |
| 2005 (58th) | Frontline | "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?" | Hedrick Smith | PBS |
| 2005 (58th) | Frontline | "The Soldier's Heart" | Raney Aronson | PBS |
| 2006 (59th) | Frontline | "The Dark Side" | Michael Kirk | PBS |
| 2006 (59th) | Frontline | "The Meth Epidemic" | Cark Byker | PBS |
| 2006 (59th) | Frontline | "The Age of AIDS" | William Cran and Renata Simone | PBS |
| 2006 (59th) | Frontline | "Can You Afford to Retire?" | Hedrick Smith and Rick Young | PBS |
| 2007 (60th) | Frontline | "Return of the Taliban" | Martin Smith | PBS |
| 2007 (60th) | America at a Crossroads | "Security vs. Liberty: The Other War" | Edward Gray | PBS |
| 2007 (60th) | Frontline | "The Enemy Within" | Lowell Bergman and Oriana Zill De Granados | PBS |
| 2007 (60th) | Frontline | "News War Part 1: Secrets Sources and Spin" | Raney Aronson-Rath, Lowell Bergman and Seth Bomse | PBS |
| 2007 (60th) | Frontline | "News War Part 3: What's Happening to the News?" | Stephen Talbot and Lowell Bergman | PBS |
| 2007 (60th) | Frontline | "Spying on the Home Front" | Hedrick Smith and Rick Young | PBS |
| 2008 (61st) | Frontline | "Bush's War: Part One" | Michael Kirk | PBS |
| 2008 (61st) | Nova | "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial" | Joseph McMaster | PBS |
| 2008 (61st) | Depression: Out of the Shadows | Depression: Out of the Shadows | Larkin McPhee | PBS |
| 2008 (61st) | Frontline | "Rules of Engagement" | Arun Rath | PBS |
| 2008 (61st) | Frontline | "The Medicated Child" | Marcela Gaviria | PBS |
| 2009 (62nd) | Frontline | "The Madoff Affair" | Marcela Gaviria and Martin Smith | PBS |
| 2009 (62nd) | Frontline | "Black Money" | Lowell Bergman and Oriana Zill de Granados | PBS |
| 2009 (62nd) | Frontline | "Heat" | Martin Smith | PBS |
| 2009 (62nd) | Frontline | "The Hugo Chávez Show" | Ofra Bikel | PBS |
| 2009 (62nd) | Frontline | "Inside the Meltdown" | Michael Kirk | PBS |
| 2009 (62nd) | Frontline | "Poisoned Waters" | Hedrick Smith and Rick Young | PBS |

### 2010s

| Year | Program | Episode | Writer(s) | Network |
| 2010 (63rd) | Frontline | "Flying Cheap" | Rick Young | PBS |
| 2010 (63rd) | Frontline | "College, Inc." | Martin Smith and John Maggio | PBS |
| 2010 (63rd) | Frontline | "The Card Game" | Lowell Bergman and Oriana Zill de Granados | PBS |
| 2010 (63rd) | Frontline | "The Quake" | Martin Smith and Marcela Gaviria | PBS |
| 2010 (63rd) | Frontline | "The Vaccine War" | Jon Palfreman | PBS |
| 2010 (63rd) | Frontline | "The Warning" | Michael Kirk | PBS |
| 2011 (64th) | Frontline | "Top Secret America" | Michael Kirk and Mike Wiser | PBS |
| 2011 (64th) | Nova | “Smartest Machine on Earth” | Julia Cort and Michael Bicks | PBS |
| 2011 (64th) | Frontline | “The Spill” | Marcela Gaviria and Martin Smith | PBS |
| 2012 (65th) | Frontline | "Money, Power and Wall Street: Episode One" | Marcela Gaviria and Martin Smith | PBS |
| 2012 (65th) | Frontline | "The Anthrax Files" | Michael Kirk | PBS |
| 2012 (65th) | Frontline | "Lost in Detention" | Rick Young | PBS |
| 2012 (65th) | Frontline | "Money, Power and Wall Street: Episode Three" | Michael Kirk and Mike Wiser | PBS |
| 2012 (65th) | Frontline | "Money, Power and Wall Street: Episode Four" | Marcela Gaviria and Martin Smith | PBS |
| 2012 (65th) | Frontline | "A Perfect Terrorist" | Thomas Jennings | PBS |
| 2013 (66th) | Frontline | "Egypt in Crisis" | Marcela Gaviria and Martin Smith | PBS |
| 2013 (66th) | Frontline | "Cliffhanger" | Michael Kirk and Mike Wiser | PBS |
| 2014 (67th) | Frontline | "United States of Secrets: The Program (Part One)" | Michael Kirk and Mike Wiser | PBS |
| 2014 (67th) | Frontline | "United States of Secrets: Privacy Lost (Part Two)" | Martin Smith | PBS |
| 2014 (67th) | Frontline | "Losing Iraq" | Michael Kirk and Mike Wiser | PBS |
| 2015 (68th) | Frontline | "American Terrorist" | Thomas Jennings | PBS |
| 2015 (68th) | Frontline | "Gunned Down: The Power of the NRA" | Michael Kirk and Mike Wiser | PBS |
| 2016 (69th) | Frontline | "The Choice 2016" | Michael Kirk and Mike Wiser | PBS |
| 2016 (69th) | Frontline | "Inside Assad's Syria" | Martin Smith | PBS |
| 2016 (69th) | Frontline | "Chasing Heroin" | Marcela Gaviria | PBS |
| 2017 (70th) | Frontline | "Confronting ISIS" | Martin Smith | PBS |
| 2017 (70th) | Unseen Enemy | Unseen Enemy | Janet Tobias | CNN |
| 2017 (70th) | Frontline | "Poverty, Politics and Profit" | Rick Young | PBS |
| 2018 (71st) | Frontline | "Trump's Takeover" | Michael Kirk and Mike Wiser | PBS |
| 2018 (71st) | Nova | "Black Hole Apocalypse" | Rushmore DeNooyer | PBS |
| 2018 (71st) | Frontline | "Blackout in Puerto Rico" | Rick Young | PBS |
| 2018 (71st) | Frontline | "The Gang Crackdown" | Marcela Gaviria | PBS |
| 2019 (72nd) | Frontline | "Trump's Trade War" | Marcela Gaviria | PBS |
| 2019 (72nd) | Frontline | "Coal's Deadly Dust" | Elaine McMillion Sheldon | PBS |
| 2019 (72nd) | Frontline | "The Mueller Investigation" | Michael Kirk and Mike Wiser | PBS |

### 2020s

| Year | Program | Episode | Writer(s) | Network |
| 2020 (73rd) | Agents of Chaos | "Part II" | Alex Gibney and Michael J. Palmer | HBO |
| 2020 (73rd) | Frontline | "The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden" | Michael Kirk and Mike Wiser | PBS |
| 2020 (73rd) | Frontline | "Whose Vote Counts" | Jelani Cobb, June Cross and Tom Jennings | PBS |
| 2020 (73rd) | Agents of Chaos | "Part I" | Alex Gibney and Michael J. Palmer | HBO |
| 2021 (74th) | Frontline | "The Healthcare Divide" | Rick Young | PBS |
| 2021 (74th) | Frontline | "The Jihadist" | Martin Smith and Marcela Gaviria | PBS |

## Programs with multiple awards
### 26 awards

* Frontline (PBS)

## Programs with multiple nominations
### 77 nominations

* Frontline (PBS)

### 6 nominations

* Nova (PBS)

### 2 nominations

* Primetime Live (ABC)
* The Awful Truth (Bravo)
* Agents of Chaos (HBO)
* Dateline NBC (NBC)