THE EARTH TIMES
NOVEMBER 1 – 15, 1997
DISTINGUISHED REPORTING
Ashali Varma wins media award
Ashali Varma of The Earth Times has won the1997 Global Media Award for distinguished Reporting on Population and the Environment. Varma, executive publisher of this newspaper, was cited for her reporting from Nepal and other countries. The annual award is given by the
Washington-based Population Institute. It consists of a plaque, and, this year, a two-week trip to Tanzania to visit family-planning projects.
“I’m obviously delighted at receiving this award-delighted and honored,” Varma said. “Having covered population developmentand environmental issues for both print and television for many years, I feel that the media can do much more to tell the story of what individuals and institutions around the world are doing to foster positive change in the lives of the poor and marginalized.”
“Journalists who cover development issues are hardly ever recognized,” Varma added. “It is for this reason that I feel especially privileged to be selected as a winner.”
Louis Silverstein, executive editor of The Earth Times, said: “Ashali’s reporting, exemplifies how The Earth Times gets beyond the rhetoric and bureaucracies to bring real-life stories to ordinary readers in an interesting, compelling fashion. What happens after the great global meetings end? What happens at grassroots clinics and health centres?”
“I’m proud that Ashali, and our other reporters as well, show what really happens in the field.”
Other winners include: Judy Mann of the Washington Post, Best Columnist; Tjekisa James Hall of the Times of Swaziland, Best Individual Reporting Effort; The Philadelphia Inquirer, Best Major Daily; International Herald Tribune, Best International Daily; Doble Jornada (Mexico City), Best Periodical; Norman B. Isaac, Manila Bulletin, Best Cartoonist; Minneapolis Star Tribune, Best Editorial Support for Solutions to Population Problems; BBC World Service (Hindi), Best Radio Program; Radim Uzel (Czech Republic), Best Radio Program; Turner Broadcasting, Best TV Documentary (for “People Count,” Executive Producer: Barbara Pyle); Trendsetters (Lusaka, Zambia) for Best Team Reporting Effort; Key Social Marketing Program of Pakistan, Best Combined Media Effort on Behalf of Population; and the United Republic of Tanzania, Country Award for 1997.