The Grantham Prize is an annual literary award established in September 2005 by Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham and the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting to annually recognize and honor the work of one journalist or team of journalists for exemplary reporting on the environment.
"The public deserves ready access to the kind of information and news that only outstanding independent journalism can provide," the Granthams said in announcing the prize, which is administered by the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting, housed at the University of Rhode Island's world-renowned Graduate School of Oceanography. They say they want their annual award of $75,000 to "give that kind of reporting the honor, respect, and visibility it needs."
The purpose of the Prize is to encourage outstanding coverage of the environment, to recognize reporting that has the potential to bring about constructive change, and to broadly disseminate the Prize-winning story to increase public awareness and understanding of issues focusing on the environment.
The prize is awarded annually to non-fiction work done in North America during the previous calendar year in newspapers, magazines, and books and on television, cable, radio, and online.
Among the criteria jurors consider are the significance of the subject matter, quality and originality of the journalism, and the effort involved in telling the story. The Grantham Prize entries are judged by an independent panel of jurors. The 2008 jury will be chaired by Philip Meyer, Professor, Knight Chair in Journalism at the University of North Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Journalists named to the juror panel are: David Boardman, Seattle Times; Peter Desbarats, University of Western Ontario, and veteran journalist and author; and Robert B. Semple, Jr., The New York Times.
The Grantham Prize is funded by Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham through The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment. The foundation supports natural resource conservation programs both in the United States and internationally.
The Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting was established in 1997 with funding from three journalism foundations and the Belo Corporation, The Providence Journal Charitable Foundation, and the Philip L. Graham Fund, and also from the Telaka Foundation. The Institute was established as a memorial to Michael Metcalf, a visionary leader in newspaper journalism and, from 1979 to 1987, the Publisher of The Providence Journal Bulletin. The Metcalf Institute provides science and environmental science training for reporters and editors to help improve the accuracy and clarity of reporting on marine and environmental issues.
Grantham Prize