Last week's Grammy Awards certainly generated plenty of chatter, what with all of the surprising winners (Esperanza Spalding, Lady Antebellum), veteran performances (Bob Dylan, Sir Mick Jagger) and more than a few upsets (Justin Bieber, Eminem).

Then there was Lady Gaga's egg-regious entrance.

Meanwhile, across the pond the British Academy Film Awards (a.k.a. the BAFTAS) made it clear that The King’s Speech was the favorite going into the upcoming Academy Awards.

In between, we've been treated to the yearly spectacle of the Golden Globe Awards, the Screen Actor Guild Award, and the AFI Awards -- just to name a few. Not to mention all of the award nomination ceremonies that make the award season so very, very exciting.
"By disclosing information about corruption, human rights abuses and war crimes, WikiLeaks is a natural contender for the Nobel Peace Prize." - Snorre Valen, Norwegian Parliamentarian
And yet, at the height of the award season, there's been an awkward silence in the American news media surrounding the nominations for this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

Recall two years ago, when Barack Obama was nominated for the prestigious prize. There was an awful lot of handicapping going on when Obama was nominated. And the Monday morning quarterbacking was intense after Obama accepted the award on Dec. 10, 2009.

Fast forward to Feb. 2, 2011. Reuters news service published a story that the anti-secrecy Web site WikiLeaks had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Reuters reported that a Norwegian Parliamentarian, Snorre Valen, nominated WikiLeaks, citing the controversial Web site's "contributions to freedom of speech and transparency."

Valen continued, "By disclosing information about corruption, human rights abuses and war crimes, WikiLeaks is a natural contender for the Nobel Peace Prize."

Hmm. That item hasn't gotten much play in the U.S. news media.

Between our infatuation with all things "awards-related" and the vitriolic news discourse that passed for reasoned discussion surrounding WikiLeaks founder Jillian Assange, you'd think this story would make a few headlines here in the good ol' USA.

But no, this item hasn't found its way into the echo chamber. Not yet at any rate.

Should WikiLeaks receive the Nobel Peace Prize, you can bet your bottom dollar that the reaction in Washington will be explosive.

Now there's an irony that Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite who endowed the prize, would surely appreciate.

Kevin Howley is associate professor of media studies at DePauw University. He is editor of Understanding Community Media (Sage, 2010). He writes regularly on media, culture and politics at e-chreia.