PROVIDENCE, R.I., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The largest journalism prize
in North America was announced today to honor outstanding reporting on the
environment by journalists in the United States and Canada. The Grantham
Prize for Excellence in Reporting on the Environment will provide a $75,000
cash award each year to one journalist or a team of journalists in recognition
of exemplary reporting on the environment.
The Grantham Prize will be administered by the Metcalf Institute for
Marine and Environmental Reporting at the University of Rhode Island's
Graduate School of Oceanography. Funding for the prize is provided by The
Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment. The deadline for
entries is March 24, 2006, with the winning journalist or reporting team
announced in July 2006.
"We are living in a world that tragically underestimates environmental
problems. Independent and accurate journalism offers great hope in this
regard. We believe that this prize will highlight the need for insightful
coverage and the awareness such reporting can bring about," said Jeremy and
Hannelore Grantham, founders of The Grantham Foundation. "The public deserves
ready access to the kind of information and news that only outstanding
independent journalism can provide. This is one way to give that kind of
reporting the honor, respect, and visibility it needs."
The $75,000 prize will be awarded annually to an individual journalist or
team of journalists in print, broadcast, or books, whose work exemplifies
extraordinary coverage of environmental issues and helps lead to constructive
social change to address them.
"The Metcalf Institute is proud to work with The Grantham Foundation to
establish this worthy prize," said Jackleen de La Harpe, Executive Director,
Metcalf Institute. "The Grantham Prize will call attention to extraordinary
reporting on important and complex issues of the environment, goals that are
solidly in line with the mission of the Metcalf Institute. We are committed
to see this Prize take its place among journalism's most honored award
competitions."
The first call for entries for award candidates will be made in the fall
of 2005, with an independent jury of respected journalists making the final
decision on an award winner.
The first member of the five-person Prize Judging Panel to be named is
Robert B. Semple, Jr., Associate Editor of the Editorial Pages, The New York
Times. Semple won a Pulitzer Prize in 1996 for his editorial writing on
environmental issues. Four additional prize judges will be named shortly.
The Grantham family set up its foundation in 1997, recently renamed The
Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment
(http://www.granthamfoundation.org). The foundation supports natural resource
conservation programs both in the United States and internationally. Jeremy
Grantham is a widely respected Boston-based investment strategist and
Hannelore Grantham is the Director of The Grantham Foundation.
The Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting was
established in 1997 with funding from three media foundations -- the Belo
Corporation, the Providence Journal Charitable Foundation, the Philip L.
Graham Fund -- and the Telaka Foundation, in honor of the late Michael P.
Metcalf, a visionary and leader in journalism and publisher of The Providence
Journal Bulletin from 1979-1987. The Metcalf Institute
(http://www.metcalfinstitute.org) provides science training for journalists
and editors to help improve the accuracy and clarity of marine and
environmental reporting and offers journalism fellowships in support of
diversity and reporting on science and the environment.
Award criteria and other information on The Grantham Prize are available
online at http://www.granthamprize.org.
SOURCE The Metcalf Institute
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Related links:
http://www.metcalfinstitute.org
http://www.granthamprize.org
CONTACT:
Jackleen de La Harpe of University of Rhode
Island, +1-401-474-5274, jack@gso.uri.edu; or Bud Ward of Metcalf
Institute, +1-703-307-0150, wardbud@msn.com
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