Isthmus News Editor Bill Lueders this weekend received a Genesis Award from the The Humane Society of the United States, established in 1954, is the nation's largest animal protection organization. The Genesis Awards, now in their 24th year, recognize print, television, film, music, and other special categories for raising awareness of animal topics. In all, four awards were presented in various categories for Outstanding Written Word. Besides Isthmus, the other recipients were: Time magazine, for stories including "The Real Cost of Cheap Food" by Bryan Walsh; O, The Oprah Magazine, for several stories including "Operation Rescue" by Barry Yeoman; and the Independent of Great Britain for multiple articles by Martin Hickman. Lueders was honored for his reporting on animal research at the UW-Madison, including his story about a 5-year-old primate named ro4040 and his articles on decompression experiments involving sheep. Also cited was his essay on animal rights activist Karen Dawn. The honored stories include: The Outstanding Written Word awards were presented at a ceremony in Beverly Hills on Friday night, attended by about 150 people, including Humane Society of the United States officers and such guests as John Mackey, the co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods. The winners were also recognized on Saturday, at the Genesis Awards banquet at the Beverly Hills Hilton, held in the same room as the Golden Globe Awards. Celebrity presenters included Pierce Brosnan (James Bond), Kristin Bell (Veronica Mars), Ginnifer Goodwin (Margene on Big Love), Jon Lovitz (famous for his "Acting!"), Teri Hatcher of Desperate Housewives, and three of the cast members (Owain Yeoman, Tim Kang, Amanda Righetti) of The Mentalist. Melanie Griffith presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to her mother, Tippi Hedren. The evening's top award winners were the animated film Up and the documentary The Cove. For a complete list see this article. The awards ceremony will be broadcast on the cable network Animal Planet, April 24 and 25; air times have not yet been determined.
Bill Lueders and "Isthmus" win Genesis Award for reporting
