jblaward

PR Newswire; December 16, 2004

Tides Foundation Honors Journalists With 2004 JBL Awards
for Excellence in Public Advocacy;

This Year's Awards Celebrate Excellence in Environmental Journalism

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Tides Foundation today
announces the recipients of its annual JBL Awards for Excellence in Public
Advocacy, this year recognizing journalists who have positively impacted
the public perception of environmental issues and impacted policymaking
in the U.S.

This year, the JBL Awards recognize the important work of Grist Magazine,
an online environmental magazine, by honoring its founder and editor,
Chip Giller, and one of its contributing writers, Amanda Griscom Little. The
Awards also honor Colin Woodard, a freelance environmental journalist.

Tides Foundation issues the JBL Awards each year to celebrate the
commitment to social justice of the late Jane Bagley Lehman, a founder of
Tides Foundation in 1976, and Chair of the Board until her death in 1988.
An unconventional philanthropist, Ms. Lehman was most intrigued by the
approaches and strategies of activists and organizers and their willingness
to challenge traditional assumptions. She also cared deeply that the
results of these efforts be translated into the broader area of public policy.
The awards highlight a different issue area each year.

"This year's recipients continue the legacy of Jane Bagley Lehman
through their lasting contributions to public awareness and the
understanding of environmental issues," said Idelisse Malave, Tides
Foundation. "Grist was chosen for reaching out to the next generation of
activists and environmentalists, with its readable, reliable and entertaining
coverage of environmental issues. We recognize Colin Woodard, who
specializes in thoughtful, firsthand environmental coverage from around
the world and writes comprehensive, scientifically sound and objective
pieces with a global perspective."

More About Grist Magazine

Five years after its launch, Grist reaches more than a quarter of a million
people through its website and news emails and millions more through
partnerships with media including MSNBC.com and Salon.com. With Grist,
Chip Giller created an e-zine that speaks to a broad, growing audience
that relies on the Internet for their main source of information. While half of
Grist's readers say they are members of environmental groups, the other
half are those not otherwise engaged in the environmental movement.

Grist often pairs its new stories with opportunities for readers to take
action. An example is Grist's first-to-the-punch coverage on efforts by the
U.S. Department of Agriculture to dilute the meaning of the national
"organic" label. This spring, Grist was the first to report on a USDA plan
that would have severely weakened the standards. One day after the story
appeared, Grist partners, Working Assets and RedJellyfish.com, cited the
story and began circulating electronic action alerts to hundreds of
thousands of people. The USDA was beset with calls and emails
expressing disapproval of the plan, and less than two weeks after the Grist
story ran, the USDA bowed to public pressure and withdrew its proposal.

Grist writer Amanda Griscom Little writes a twice-weekly Muckraker column
that Salon.com picked up for weekly syndication to its 3 million readers.
For nearly two years, Griscom Little has tracked the Bush Administration's
environmental policies, Beltway shenanigans, and the people behind them.
For the past year she has also been publishing a monthly interview in Grist
with political leaders and environmental luminaries to bring a broad range
of high- profile perspectives to the environmental discussion in an
engaging, accessible way that will motivate mainstream audiences.
Interviewees have included John Kerry, Howard Dean, Robert Redford,
Bobby Kennedy Jr., Jim Jeffords, Joe Lieberman, John Mackey (CEO of
Whole Foods), as well as U.S. Department of Interior officials Lynn Scarlett
and Craig Manson. Recently picked up by MSNBC.com for syndication, her
interviews will now reach 10 million readers per month.

More About Colin Woodard

One of the few journalists specializing in overseas reporting on the
environment, Woodard produces thoughtful, firsthand coverage from
places that are often difficult to travel to, like the collapsing ice shelves of
the Antarctic, the low-lying atolls of Micronesia, the vanishing jungles of
northern Guatemala, and the abandoned chemical plants of southern
Albania. Most of Woodard's work focuses on issues of national or global
consequence, like marine pollution, climate change, or the development of
alternative energy technologies.

His articles have been cited widely in scientific and public policy papers,
reports, books, and speeches, and reprinted in syndication by publications
around the world. His book "Ocean's End," a critically acclaimed account of
the crisis in the world's oceans, has been translated into Chinese and has
influenced the recommendations of the Pew Oceans Commission and the
United States Oceans Commission. His reports on new ocean
management technologies helped prompt collaboration between federal,
state, and provincial authorities in the U.S. and Canada. His pieces on the
legacy of U.S. atomic testing in the Marshall Islands helped the people of
Bikini Atoll receive compensation from Washington and may one day allow
them to return to their contaminated island. His second book, "The Lobster
Coast," has raised public awareness of the value of common property
regimes in the management of natural resources like Maine lobster or
Caribbean coral reefs. His reporting on Dutch and Danish innovations in
recycling, wind power, and industrial ecology have been picked up by
newspapers around the world, and in the publications of Worldwatch and
the Earth Policy Institute. As a result of his writing, Colin has been invited
to speak at numerous conferences around the country, including the
inaugural meeting of the Pew Oceans Commission.

About Tides Foundation

Since 1976, Tides Foundation has partnered with donors and institutions
by offering donor-advised funds, philanthropic advice and management
services for progressive social change philanthropy. Tides is committed to
strengthening community-based nonprofit organizations and the
progressive movement through national and global philanthropy --
creating a positive impact on people's lives in ways that honor and
promote human rights, economic justice and a healthy, sustainable
environment.
Contacts:

Christopher Herrera           Romi Neustadt
Director of Communications    DDB Bass & Howes
Tides Foundation              206-326-5115
415-561-6355                  206-947-5792

cherrera@tides.org

romi.neustadt@bh.ddb.com

This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information,
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CONTACT: Christopher Herrera, Director of Communications, Tides
Foundation, +1-415-561-6355, cherrera@tides.org ; or Romi Neustadt,
DDB Bass & Howes, +1-206-326-5115, +1-206-947-5792,
romi.neustadt@bh.ddb.com