Awards for Environmental Reporting Announced

The Metcalfe Institute at the University of Rhode Island has announced its 2008 Grantham Prize winners for environmental reporting. The series “Choking on Growth” by The NY Times on China and its problems with environmental sustainability takes first prize. Details below the fold. For DC readers, they are holding a very interesting panel event and reception at the Newseum on Monday, Sept. 8 that is well worth attending. Details also below the fold.
nMetcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting
University of Rhode Island
Graduate School of Oceanography
Narragansett, Rhode Island


August 14, 2008


Metcalf Announces…
2008 Grantham Prize Winners
Grantham Prize Seminar and Live Webcast


METCALF AWARDS $75,000 GRANTHAM PRIZE TO THE NEW YORK TIMES’ SERIES, “CHOKING ON GROWTH”
www.granthamprize.org

David Barboza, Keith Bradsher, Howard French, Joseph Kahn, Chang W. Lee, Jimmy Wang, and Jim Yardley of The New York Times are the 2008 winners of the Grantham Prize for Excellence in Reporting on the Environment. They will receive the $75,000 prize for “Choking on Growth,” their 10-part series about the environmental degradation that has accompanied China’s unprecedented development.

Grantham Prize Jurors noted, “The Times’ series is environmental journalism of the highest order, shaped for the 21st century. The stories, photographs and graphics on the printed page are outstanding. Even more impressive is the online presentation, which includes compelling videos, reader-interactive forums, question-and-answer sessions with scientific and political experts and – perhaps most importantly – versions of the original stories translated into Mandarin, for the consumption of readers within China.”

Jurors also selected three Award of Special Merit recipients, each receiving a $5,000 award:

• Alison Richards and David Malakoff, series editors of the National Public Radio News series, “Climate Connections: How people change climate, how climate changes people.” This series pooled the resources of NPR News programs to take listeners on a global journey to understand the impacts of climate change and how humans are responding.

• Dinah Voyles Pulver of the Daytona Beach News-Journal for her richly detailed 7-part series, “Natural Treasures – Are We Losing Our Way?” Pulver examined the environmental consequences of various commercial and development pressures in central Florida, with the dual goals of educating the public and inspiring action.

• Ed Struzik, for his series, “The Big Thaw – Arctic in Peril,” which ran in two of Canada’s major newspapers, the Edmonton Journal and the Toronto Star. The series was on the Toronto Star’s “best-read” stories list for 2007, extraordinary for a serious, issues-based series like this one.


2008 GRANTHAM PRIZE SEMINAR TO BE HELD IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
www.granthamprize.org

Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting announces the third annual Grantham Prize Seminar on the State of Environmental Journalism at the Freedom Forum’s Newseum in Washington, D.C., on September 8, 2008.

The seminar presents the New York Times winners with the $75,000 Grantham Prize for Excellence in Reporting on the Environment and the three recipients of the Awards of Special Merit with $5000 prizes each. The winners will make public presentations at the Newseum’s Knight Conference Center starting at 1 p.m.

We are looking to a watershed moment in 2009 when Congress and the next President will work toward a federal policy to address climate change, an effort requiring a balance of science, economics, social and political considerations. The Grantham Prize Seminar, therefore, will culminate in a moderated panel discussion at 7:30 p.m. about climate change policy as an election issue.

Moderated by Lisa Mullins, Host of PRI’s The World, the panel will feature James McCarthy, world-renowned climate scientist and President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; James Rogers, Chair, President, and CEO of Duke Energy; and Bracken Hendricks, co-author of Apollo’s Fire: Igniting America’s Clean Energy Economy. We will be joined by a leading journalist on energy and a former member of Congress who will discuss the political challenges facing a national climate change strategy.

The afternoon presentations and evening panel will be webcast live. Join the live webcast by visiting www.granthamprize.orgjust prior to the 1:00 start time.

1-4 p.m. Presentations by the 2008 Grantham Prize winners
4-5 Complimentary entry to the Newseum’s exhibits
7:30-9 p.m. Moderated panel discussion

The event will take place at the newly reopened Newseum, in the Knight Conference Center, accessed at the Sixth Street Entrance in Washington, D.C.

Only registered guests will be admitted. REGISTER ONLINE AT www.granthamprize.org UNTIL AUGUST 22, 2008.


SUPPORTING METCALF
www.metcalfinstitute.org/support

Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote clear and accurate reporting of scientific news and environmental issues; to strengthen understanding and working relationships between members of the scientific community and members of the news media; and to provide opportunities for beginning journalists to learn, on both a formal and an informal level, how to improve their skills in marine and environmental reporting.

Please consider making a contribution to the Metcalf Institute. Your tax-deductible gift is managed by the University of Rhode Island Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, and will help to support Metcalf programs and general operating expenses.

For more information about Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting, please call Sunshine Menezes, Executive Director, at (401) 874-6499.

With more non-profit organizations competing for resources from funders each year, we are especially grateful for the donations we receive from individuals. If you have donated to Metcalf in the past, thank you for your support.


CONTACT INFORMATION
Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting
URI Graduate School of Oceanography
Narragansett, RI 02882
Tel: (401) 874-6211
Fax: (401) 874-6486
metcalf@metcalfinstitute.org
www.metcalfinstitute.org