Best reporting in any medium on international environmental issues
AWARD YEAR: 1999
AWARD NAME: The Whitman Bassow Award 1999
RECIPIENT: David Talbot
AFFILIATION: The Boston Herald
HONORED WORK: “Rain Forest Paying the Price of Oil”
To report this story, general assignment | reporter “Talbot persuaded his editors to let him go to Ecuador with photographer Justin Ide to report on the environmental and human price exacted by oil development. Texaco, which pulled out of the region in 1992, has denied charges it dumped toxic materials there. A class action is still pending on the issue, however, and attorneys in the Boston area are arguing that the case be heard in the U.S., where courts often favor plaintiffs in such matters. Talbot’s three-story package discusses the suit, the pollution, and effects on the local Secoya Indian culture. Because of civil unrest in Ecuador at the time, Talbot had only three sleepless days to get the story. Despite the time and financial pressure (the paper covered only some of the expenses), the story was impressive in its accuracy and impact.
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