SEJ Names Finalists For 2006 Awards

Global warming, toxic chemicals and threats to biodiversity were major themes of the best environmental journalism of 2005- 2006, according to judges in the fifth annual contest sponsored by the Society of Environmental Journalists.

Twenty-six stories in nine categories have been designated as finalists in the SEJ Awards for Reporting on the Environment, the world's largest and most comprehensive awards for journalism on environmental topics.

Judging panels of distinguished reporters, editors and journalism educators considered nearly 200 entries to choose 26 finalists representing the best environmental reporting in print and on television, radio and the Internet.

Winners will be revealed and finalists honored Oct. 25 at a gala ceremony in the Emerald Grand Ballroom at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel in Burlington, Vt., on the first day of SEJ's 16th annual conference. Each winning entry will receive $1,000 and a trophy.

This year's finalists, listed alphabetically by media outlet in each category:

Outstanding Radio Reporting, Large Market

• "Dupont Stories" – NPR's Living on Earth, Jeffrey A. Young

• "Borderlands" – NPR's Living on Earth, Molly Peterson

• "Bioko's Endangered Monkeys" – PRI's The World, David Baron

 Outstanding Radio Reporting, Small Market

• "Dirty Dealings at Maine's DEP" – MPBN Radio (WMEA Portland), Susan P. Sharon

• "Poultry Antibiotics" – NET Radio, Sarah McCammon

• "Eugenie Clark" – WGCU-FM and Florida Public Radio, Amy Tardif

Outstanding Television Reporting, Large Market

• "Car Inspection Corruption" – CBS 4 News at 11, Kristen Setera 

• "Melting Point: Tracking the Global Warming Threat" – CNN, Miles O'Brien

• "Dirty Secret" – WBAL TV 11 News, John Sherman and Beau Kershaw

Outstanding Television Reporting, Small Market

• "Delicate Blooms: South Florida's Native Orchids" – WGCU TV, Alexa Elliott

• "The Dirt on Dickson County" – WSMV-TV, Demetria Kalodimos and Phil Dunaway

• "Toxic Treatment" – WTAE-TV, Jim Parsons, Kendall Cross and Shawn Quinlan

Kevin Carmody Award for Outstanding Investigative Reporting, Print

• "Vanishing Wetlands" – St. Petersburg Times, Craig Pittman and Matthew Waite

• "Toxic Legacy" – The Record, Jan Barry, Alex J. Nussbaum, Mary Jo Layton, Lindy Washburn, Tom Troncone, Thomas E. Franklin, Barbara Williams, Lynn Vial and Tim E. Nostrand

• "Toxic Traces" – The Wall Street Journal, Peter Waldman

Outstanding Beat Reporting, Print

• "Environmental Science and Health" – Los Angeles Times, Marla Cone

• "South Texas Environment Beat" – San Antonio Express- News, Anton Caputo

• "Environment Beat: From Drilling to Teflon" – The Baltimore Sun, Tom Pelton

Outstanding Explanatory Reporting, Print

• "A Body's Burden: Our Chemical Legacy" – Oakland Tribune, Douglas Fischer

• "Blue Smoke, Tainted Water" – The Columbus Dispatch, Spencer Hunt

• "The Climate of Man" – The New Yorker, Elizabeth Kolbert

Outstanding Small Market Reporting, Print

• "Our Changing World: Understanding the Science of Climate Change" – Bangor Daily News, Misty Edgecomb, Jonathan Ferland, Eric Zelz, Scott Haskell, Rick Levasseur, Brian Robitaille, Becky Bowden, Greg McManus, Charlie Campo, John Clarke Russ and Janet Sargent

• "Paso Del Norte Stories" – El Diario De Juarez, Erick Falcon

• "Who's Protecting Us?" and other stories – The Repository, Paul E. Kostyu

Outstanding Online Reporting

• "Integrity in Science" – Environmental Science & Technology, Paul Thacker

• "Fantastic Forests: The Balance Between Nature and People of Madagascar" – www.wbur.org, Daniel Grossman

This year's contest judges (asterisks indicate panel chairs):

• Todd B. Bates,* environmental writer, Asbury Park Press
• Randolph Brandt, editor, The Journal Times
• Merrill Brown, founder and principal, MMB Media
• Liddie Collins, MPTV
• Aly Colon, group leader for reporting, writing and editing, Poynter Institute
• Lisa Cordasco, Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
• Steve Cuevas, reporter, Southern California Public Radio
• Robert Garcia, Washington bureau chief, ABC Radio
• Ed Jahn, producer, Oregon Public Broadcasting
• John Krist, senior reporter, Ventura County Star
• Margaret Kriz,* staff correspondent, National Journal
• Bill Lambrecht, Washington bureau chief, St. Louis Post Dispatch 
• Vin Liotta, senior series producer, NOVA ScienceNOW 
• Ingrid Lobet,* West Coast editor, Living On Earth, National Public Radio
• Dori J. Maynard, president and CEO, Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
• Eugene Mulero,* reporter, Arizona Republic
• Larry Pryor, associate professor, University of Southern California Annenberg School for Journalism
• Paul Raeburn, freelance journalist
• Jacques Rivard,* former correspondent, Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
• Teya Ryan,* consultant, former executive vice president of CNN/US
• Streenath Sreenivasan, dean of students and associate professor, Columbia University School of Journalism
• Jean Trumbo,* associate professor of Visual Communication and New Media, Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada-Reno.
• Paul Wagner, reporter, WTTG-TV
• Kathy Warbelow, managing editor, Austin American- Statesman
• Ken Weiss,* environmental writer, Los Angeles Times
• Dale A. Willman,* executive editor, Field Notes Production
• Bruce Wirth, news and public affairs director, KBCS 91.3 FM 
• The SEJ awards are administered by a committee appointed by the SEJ board. This year's awards committee members (asterisks indicate committee co-chairs) are:
• Dan Fagin,* New York University
• Ilsa Setziol,* KPCC Radio, Pasadena, Calif.
• Emilia Askari, Detroit Free Press
• Sharon Friedman, Lehigh University
• Miguel Llanos, MSNBC
• Francesca Lyman, independent journalist
• Ed Rodgers, New Jersey Public Television
• Phyllis Sides, Racine (WI) Journal Times
• David Wiwchar, A-Channel TV News, Victoria, B.C.

** From SEJ's quarterly newsletter SEJournal Fall, 2006 issue.