Jim Morris of the Houston Chronicle, Mike Edwards of National Geographic, and Peter Bull and Robert Abseshouse of ABC News were named winners of the 23rd annual Science-in-Society Journalism Awards.
Each of the awards-in the newspaper, magazine and broadcast categories-consists of $1,000 and a certificate. Publishers and broadcasters of the winning entries also receive certificates.
Morris, a staff reporter at the Chronicle, was cited for "Worked to Death," a six-part series (plus several follow-up stories) dealing with dangers facing industrial construction workers owing to the failure of owners to introduce basic safety measures. The series, which centered mainly on the willful neglect displayed by a local petrochemical plant, ran October 9-14, 1994. The judges lauded Morris for "his investigative resourcefulness and outstanding reportorial skill" and the Chronicle for its "courageous support" of Morris in his pursuit of the story.
Edwards, a senior staff writer at National Geographic, won for "Lethal Legacy: Pollution in the Former USSR" and a companion piece, "Chernobyl: Living With the Monster." Both articles ran in the August, 1994 issue. Edwards was commended for "his exhaustively researched, harrowing account of the deadly environmental blight wrought upon the former USSR as a consequence of its heedless, manic rush toward industrialization." Since Edwards was on assignment in Outer Mongolia when the awards were presented, Danielle M. Beauchamp, a research associate at National Geographic, accepted the award.
The producers for ABC News were cited for "The Untold Story of the Exxon Valdez," which aired as the June 14, 1994 edition of "Turning Point", the TV network's weekly news program. The hour-long report, said the judges, provided "a compelling, remarkably revealing, splendidly realized" exploration of the events leading to the 1989 oil-tanker disaster and the less-than-honorable tactics employed by Exxon officials to downplay the environmental, economic and social toll of the Alaskan spill.
The awards were presented on Tuesday evening, November 7 in Durham, North Carolina, at the annual banquet of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing (CASW). The banquet is held in conjunction with the Council's annual New Horizons in Science Briefing for Journalists. This year's briefing, CASW's 33rd, is being hosted by Duke University.
More than 130 entries were received. These were screened by the NASW Science-in-Society Awards Committee, chaired by Ben Patrusky, executive director of CASW. The other screeners: Jerry E. Bishop, science reporter and deputy science editor, Wall Street Journal; Fred Jerome, executive vice president, Media Resource Service; and Paul Raeburn, science editor, Associated press.
The final judges were: Matt Clark, former medicine editor of Newsweek; Dennis Flanagan, former editor of Scientific American; and Prof. Kenneth F. Goldstein of the Columbia University School of Journalism.