For
Immediate Release
“NBC Nightly
News” Anchor Brian Williams to Announce Award
at
Nov. 7 Strolling Supper Benefit for Joan’s Legacy
Lung Cancer Foundation
(New York, NY – October 30,
2006) CNN producer Audrey Gruber and the entire staff
of “Anderson Cooper 360°” will receive
the 2006 “Joanie Award” for excellence in
journalism related to lung cancer. The award and $10,000
prize are given annually by Joan’s Legacy: The
Joan Scarangello Foundation to Conquer Lung Cancer.
Ms. Gruber and her team won the “Joanie
Award” for their special, “Lung Cancer:
The Silent Killer.” Broadcast March 7 in the wake
of the death of Dana Reeve, this two-hour broadcast
used a combination of taped segments, live guests and
viewer phone calls to bring to light a disease that
is taking the lives of tens of thousands of women, including
those who have never smoked.
“Using truth, accuracy and compassion,
the CNN team from “Anderson Cooper 360°”
created an important report that shone a spotlight on
a disease that – despite its deadliness and prevalence
– has been largely ignored,” said Patrick
T. McNeive of ABC News, president of Joan’s Legacy
and chairman of the Foundation’s Joanie Award
Committee. “In the finest tradition of broadcast
journalism, this CNN team, under the direction of Audrey
Gruber, told a complete story about a complex topic,
including personal stories of triumph and loss, scientific
reports on news from the lung cancer research front,
and medical advice for viewers concerned about the risks
of the disease.”
The “Joanie Award” is part
of the awareness campaign of Joan’s Legacy, created
to honor the memory and mission of its namesake, Joan
Scarangello. She was a producer and writer who appreciated
quality reporting and believed that the public needed
more information about lung cancer.
The “Joanie Award” selection
committee is comprised of producers and managers in
various broadcast news organizations, including ABC
and NBC News. Their members include Lennert Bourin,
Felicia Pantinkin, Libby Rager, Robin Skolnik, Jonathan
Wald, and Patrick McNeive. Past winners include ABC’s
Dr. Timothy Johnson, NBC’s Robert Bazell and The
Wall Street Journal’s senior editorial writer
Robert Pollock.
Joan’s Legacy is committed to fighting
lung cancer by funding innovative research and focusing
greater attention on the world’s leading cancer
killer. Funding $2.4 Million in new and cutting-edge
research in just four years, Joan’s Legacy is
fast becoming recognized as the "venture
capital" source for ground-breaking lung cancer
research.
Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer
in the United States, taking more than 160,000 lives
each year. Yet lung cancer receives less research funding
than any other major cancer, making the work of Joan’s
Legacy even more compelling.
For more information about the “Joanie
Award,” the Foundation’s research grant
program or the Strolling Supper event in November, or
lung cancer itself please visit www.joanslegacy.org.
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