Pacific Research Institute Honors Journalists for Excellence in Environmental Reporting

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For Immediate Release

Pacific Research Institute Honors Journalists for Excellence in Environmental Reporting

SAN FRANSISCO, CALIFORNIA, Apr. 18 -/E-Wire/-- The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) today announced the winners of its Awards for Excellence in Environmental Journalism. Tina Rosenberg of The New York Times won the Best News Feature Writing award for her article, "What the World Needs Now is DDT," and Barun Mitra of India's Liberty Institute won for Best Editorial or Op-ed for his piece, "Save the Planet and the Third World Will Pay," published in the Times of London. Each winner will receive a $1,000 prize.

"Congratulations to the winners and finalists of the Excellence in Environmental Journalism Awards for using their journalistic talents to write insightful and well-researched environmental pieces," said Dr. Steven F. Hayward, senior fellow at PRI and author of the tenth annual Index of Leading Environmental Indicators. "As an April 2005 PRI/Harris Interactive poll revealed, 27% of the public believes that the media provides the most credible and objective information about the environment. In writing their pieces, the two award winners and their fellow nominees earned the public's trust by writing environmental stories that were educational and factual, not sensationalized and alarmist."

In her award-winning piece for the New York Times Magazine, Rosenberg recounts the history of the 1972 ban of DDT, despite its effective means of preventing the spread of malaria in the developing world. She fearlessly takes on an icon of environmentalism by noting that Rachel Carson , the author of Silent Spring, never mentions that DDT is responsible for saving tens of millions of lives. As Rosenberg writes, "DDT killed bald eagles because of its persistence in the environment. Silent Spring is now killing African children because of its persistence in the public mind."

In "Save the Planet and the Third World Will Pay," Mitra challenges the enthusiasm for development assistance that promotes exotic energy technologies for the developing world as a means of combating climate change. He rejects the kind of environmentalism that "puts the environment, rather than people, at the centre of decision making," by writing that proposals such as the Kyoto Protocol do "not sound convincing to the world's poor" and are "irrelevant" to the developing world.

The winners and finalists of PRI's Excellence in Environmental Reporting Awards are highlighted in the tenth annual Index of Leading Environmental Indicators published by PRI and the American Enterprise Institute. Award nominees were selected based on the journalist's ability to inform the public with serious and credible research and to depart from conventional news coverage. There were 19 outstanding articles nominated for recognition. An independent panel of environmental policy experts reviewed the finalists and selected the winners. The awards will be presented on Wednesday, April 20, just prior to Earth Day, at the American Enterprise Institute.

Award finalists for Best News Feature Writing included John Tierney, "The Autonomist Manifesto (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Road)," New York Times Magazine; David Whitman, "Partly Sunny: Why Enviros Can't Admit that Bush's Clear Skies Initiative Isn't Half Bad," Washington Monthly; Stephen Smith, "The Asthma Riddle: Scientists Still Struggling to Understand the Epidemic," Boston Globe; Miguel Bustillo, "As Smog Thickens, So Does the Debate," Los Angeles Times; Jim Carlton, "In the Sierras, A Raging Debate Over Clear-Cutting," Wall Street Journal; Melissa Healy, "Behind the Organic Label: As the Industry Grows, Skeptics are Challenging the Health Claims," Los Angeles Times; Jane E. Brody, "A Conversation with Robert L. Brent: Calming Parents' Fears About Environmental Hazards," New York Times; and Rona Kobell, "A Bull Market in Land Preservation," Baltimore Sun.

Award finalists for Best Editorial or Op-ed included Steve Chapman, "What's All Wrong with 'Energy Independence,'" slate.com; Gregg Easterbrook, "Politics and Science Do Mix: Claims that Bush Misuses Research are Hypocritical," Los Angeles Times; Johnathan H. Adler, "Fact: Under Bush, Air Quality Actually Has Improved," Philadelphia Inquirer; David Brooks, "Clearing the Air," New York Times; and Collin Levey, "It Takes a Tree-Hugger to Raze a Forest," Seattle Times.

For 26 years, the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) has championed freedom, opportunity, and individual responsibility through free-market policy solutions. PRI is a non-profit, non-partisan organization.

Pacific Research Institute

Susan Martin, Marketing Manager

http://www.pacificresearch.org

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