Our debt to Bill Moyers Former Peace Corps Deputy Director Bill Moyers leaves PBS next week to begin writing his memoir of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Read what Moyers says about journalism under fire, the value of a free press, and the yearning for democracy. "We have got to nurture the spirit of independent journalism in this country," he warns, "or we'll not save capitalism from its own excesses, and we'll not save democracy from its own inertia."

2004 Global Environmental Citizen Award Goes to Bill Moyers



2004 Global Environmental Citizen Award Goes to Bill Moyers

2004 Global Environmental Citizen Award Goes to Bill Moyers; Meryl Streep to Present Award From Harvard Medical School's Center for Health and the Global Environment

NEW YORK, Dec. 1 (AScribe Newswire) -- The Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, the first medical school-based center in the United States bringing scientific rigor to the relationship between human health and the health of the global environment, awards its 2004 Global Environmental Citizen Award to Bill Moyers.

"Bill Moyers is a talented journalist who has proven himself time and again with resourceful, thought-provoking pieces focused on some of today's toughest environmental issues," says Eric Chivian, MD, Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment, and a former co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. "His work on the environment successfully makes strong connections between human health and the well-being of the Earth's ecosystems."

Some of Moyers most important broadcasts tackling environmental issues include: "America's First River," an exploration of the legacy of the Hudson River seen through both the lens of its ecology, natural history and beauty and its use as a dumping ground for PCBs and other industrial wastes; "Earth on the Edge," a comprehensive environmental report outlining the impact of human activity on five of the world's ecosystems as well as changes in behavior necessary to help restore them; and "Trade Secrets," an investigative report about the companies involved in the chemical revolution over the past 50 years, the chemicals they produce, and the effects they have on our bodies.

Moyers, who is retiring on December 17, has hosted and produced the weekly PBS series "NOW with Bill Moyers" since its launch in 2002. During that time, "NOW" has produced nearly three dozen stories on environmental topics ranging from global warming, destruction of wetlands, wind power, genetically modified food, mountaintop mining, and the weakening of the Clean Air and Water Acts. "Bill Moyers has been instrumental in highlighting how changes in the environment affect our health and our daily lives," says award ceremony host and Center for Health and the Global Environment board member Meryl Streep.

"It is an honor to receive this award from the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School," says Moyers. "The work of the Center not only plays a crucial role in bringing information to the public about environmental change, but also reveals what is at stake for real people. With awareness comes the power to reverse the trend," he says.

Best known as a broadcast journalist, Moyers career also includes service as the Deputy Director of the Peace Corps in the Kennedy administration and two years as White House Press Secretary for President Lyndon B. Johnson. He left the White House in 1967 to become the publisher of the New York daily Newsday, eventually moving to CBS as a senior analyst for the Evening News and chief correspondent for the acclaimed documentary series, "CBS Reports". In 1986, he confounded Public Affairs Television, Inc. with his wife and partner Judith Davidson where he produced the famous series "Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth."

Moyers has received more than 30 Emmy Awards for his work during his 25 years in broadcasting and was elected into the television Hall of Fame in 1995. He was named as one of the 10 journalists who have had the most significant influence on television news by a survey of critics published in Television Quarterly, the official journal of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

CONTACTS: John Lacey, 617-432-0442, public_affairs@hms.harvard.edu

Event site contact -- Kathleen Frith, 617-519-9652, kfrith@hms.harvard.edu

NOTE TO EDITORS: Images are available. Call 617-432-0442.

When this story was posted in November 2004, this was on the front page of PCOL:

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