For those who still doubt the power of the press, look no further than The Tallahassee Democrat's package of stories on pet overpopulation, which ran on Sunday, August 4, 2002. The impact of those stories was both immediate and long-term.

Democrat reporter Kathleen Laufenberg and photographer Allison Long provided an emotional, inside-look at the lives of shelter workers who, literally, have to euthanize hundreds of dogs and cats a month. Not long after the articles ran, the Tallahassee-Leon Community Animal Service Center, the focal point of Laufenberg's reporting, discovered it was the unexpected beneficiary of flowers and more than $5,000 in donations.

Even better, according to a March 2, 2003, follow-up story in the Democrat, the director of the shelter, Gilles Meloche, estimated that 500 animals found homes in the past six months who would have been euthanized a year ago. What's more, only 1% of the animals at the shelter are euthanized now because of a lack of space; previously that figure was 18%. The reduction has apparently done wonders for the morale of shelter workers.

"Every time we show them we are reducing euthanasia and are showing that every cute puppy won't be euthanized, that makes a difference for us," Meloche told the Democrat.

Laufenberg and Long's work is just one of 23 that has earned a Genesis Award this year. The 17th Annual Genesis Awards, the first under the banner of The Humane Society of the United States, will honor members of the news and entertainment media "for spotlighting animal issues with courage, creativity and integrity," notes Gretchen Wyler, Vice President of The HSUS Hollywood Office and creator of The Genesis Awards.

The awards ceremony takes place Saturday, March 15, 2003, in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. This year's hosts are actors Eric Roberts and Gena Lee Nolin; the guest of honor is Sangduen "Lek" Chailert for her work providing a safe haven for Thailand's abused elephants; the corporate underwriter is Veterinary Pet Insurance; and the broadcaster is Animal Planet, which will air a one-hour edited version of The Genesis Awards at 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. EST on May 1 and a two-hour edited version at 3 p.m. EST on May 4.

The Tallahassee Democrat was able to make a significant impact on the lives of animals with a circulation of nearly 100,000 readers. It's not difficult to imagine what kind of impact some of the other Genesis Award winners have had, particularly since their audience reach is measured by the millions, not the thousands.

Among the notable winners this year are ABC's 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, the WB Network's Everwood, DreamWorks' animated feature film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Animal Planet's Animal Cops, rocker Peter Gabriel's "Animal Nation" from The Wild Thornsberrys Movie, and two separate cover stories in The New York Times Magazine.

A host of celebrities will be on hand to present Genesis Awards on Saturday night. Among the presenters are James Cromwell, Amy Smart, Melissa Rivers, Shannon Elizabeth, Doris Roberts, Michelle Phillips, Chynna Phillips-Baldwin, Wendie Malick, Charlotte Ross, Michael Feinstein, Karle Warren, Matt Gallant, A.J. McLean, Linda Blair, Tippi Hedren, Catherine Oxenberg, Aisha Tyler, Kaley Cuoco and Amy Davidson.

Wyler, a former Broadway and television actress and a long-time animal activist, is the force behind The Genesis Awards. The awards are a logical outgrowth of her work in both entertainment and animal activism, and they are guided by Wyler's ever-present philosophy that "cruelty can't stand the spotlight." The HSUS Hollywood Office is dedicated to increasing awareness of animal issues through the media, and it is also dedicated to honoring, through the Genesis Awards, those media members who provide the brightest spotlights.

Such as Kathleen Laufenberg and Allison Long, whose work may forever change the landscape in Tallahassee for our beloved pets.

See page two for a complete list of Genesis Award winners.

FILM

Feature Film

Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron (DreamWorks)—For a magnificent family feature that captures the plight of wild horses by drawing us into the heart and soul of a brave mustang, and compelling us to understand his quest to live in freedom.

TELEVISION

Dramatic Series

The Practice, "Small Sacrifices" (ABC)—For daring to examine in sharp focus the ugly reality of American factory farming, forcing the audience to confront its own complicity in animal suffering and to recognize that our "civilized" society is not above reproach.

Family Series

Everwood, "Deer God" (WB)—For a thoughtful and poignant depiction of father and son bonding realized through the preservation—as opposed to the destruction—of wildlife.

Comedy Series

8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter—(ABC)—For demonstrating a keen awareness of animal issues, and having the courage and creativity to integrate them into entertaining storylines with intelligence and compassion, thus bending the "rules" of a prime-time comedy series.

News Feature

World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, multiple segments (ABC)—For consistently spotlighting a wide range of animal issues, including "Whale Watching," explaining the unpredicted harm inflicted on whales by this popular tourist activity, and "Animal Rights," a look at the argument for the legal representation and protection of animals.

Network Newsmagazine

Nightline, "Land Grab: The Corridors of Power" (ABC)—For an illuminating report on the visionary work of Conservation International, a diverse group of influential men committed to the creation and financing of wildlife "corridors," which enable the natural migration of animals and ensure the preservation of countless species.

Syndicated Newsmagazine

Celebrity Justice, "Cruelty on Catalina?"—For a tenacious, two-part investigation that revealed the shocking practice of hot iron branding seals for marine research; and for showing the cruel treatment of animals used for food in its coverage of the Farm Sanctuary Gala.

Cable Documentary

Vanishing Giants (National Geographic Channel)—For focusing on the horrific suffering of Thailand's working elephants in never-seen-before footage, which revealed the barbaric methods used to "break the spirit" of baby elephants forced into a life of inhumane servitude in the tourist industry.

Cable Documentary Series

National Geographic Explorer, "America's Big Cat Crisis" and "Jane Goodall: Chimps in Crisis" (MSNBC)—For "America's Big Cat Crisis," an unprecedented hour-long inquiry into the growing and dangerous trend of keeping exotic cats as companion animals; and for "Jane Goodall: Chimps in Crisis," an alarming assessment of the current threat to the few remaining wild chimpanzees.

Television Movie

A Ring of Endless Light (Disney Channel)—For a captivating tale of the sublime connection between children and animals, and for bringing to center stage the devastating effect of illegal driftnets that randomly trap and kill thousands of dolphins.

Children's Programming–Television Movie

Kermit's Swamp Years (Starz)—For a delightfully ingenious and entertaining condemnation of classroom dissections, with the inimitable Kermit and his Muppet friends taking on the teacher and "speaking out" on behalf of frogs everywhere.

Children's Programming–Series

Braceface, "Vanity Fur" (ABC Family)—For a timely anti-fur statement, delivered to a young audience in a cleverly conceived episode that deals with cruelty in fashion while touching on the themes of loyalty, friendship, moral conviction, and personal empowerment.

Reality Programming

Animal Cops (Animal Planet)—For a hard-hitting series that drives home the unpalatable truth about companion-animal abuse, interwoven with life-affirming moments when the grateful animals are delivered into the safety of caring hands.

Local News Service

KATU-TV News (Portland), "Inside the Cage"—For a probing and uncompromising three-part expose on the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center, an investigation that cites the alleged physical and psychological suffering of the animals used in experiments and that brings into serious question the scientific credibility of the research projects.

Local News Feature

KCAL 9 News (Los Angeles), "A Beef with Diary" and "Big Top Beating"—For shattering the myth of the "Happy Cows" commercials with a searing look at the real conditions endured by hundreds of thousands of dairy cows; and for a disturbing report that featured undercover footage of the brutality routinely inflicted on circus elephants.

Commercial

Kodak, "Animal Shelter" (Ogilvy & Mather)—For producing a truly precious "Kodak Moment" in a TV commercial that encourages pet adoption, proving that a major advertising campaign can sell both a product and a heart-warming animal-welfare message.

Brigitte Bardot International Award Arte-Reportage, "Les Mustangs"—For an unsettling investigation into the Bureau of Land Management's wild mustang round-ups and adoption programs, which seem unable to prevent thousands of horses from winding up at auctions and being sent to their deaths at Canadian slaughterhouses via killer buyers.

MUSIC

Doris Day Music Award

"Animal Nation" by Peter Gabriel, from The Wild Thornberrys Movie (Paramount/Nickelodeon)—For an enlightened and beautiful lyric that expresses the undeniable link between all living creatures and man's blindness to animal intelligence.

PRINT MEDIA

Periodical

U.S. News & World Report, "Cruel and Usual" by Michael Satchell—For an in-depth feature that lays bare the horrendous conditions of America's roadside zoos and the inadequate regulations that permit them to exist.

Newspaper Magazine Feature

New York Times Magazine, "Power Steer" and "An Animal's Place," both by Michael Pollan—For two, groundbreaking cover stories: one that follows the unnatural, diseased-prone life of a typical food animal, and the other that explores the complex debate over animal rights. Two landmark stories, calling for radical improvements in the treatment of farm animals.

Series of Newspaper Articles

The Tallahassee Democrat, "Animals Destined for Death" by Kathleen Laufenberg with photos by Allison Long—For a package of sobering articles and images that chronicle the heart-breaking consequences of pet overpopulation as experienced on a daily basis in a local animal shelter.

Editorial

Tulsa World, multiple editorials by Janet Pearson in support of the initiative to ban cockfighting—For emphatically condemning cockfighting, thus informing and propelling the public to vote in favor of the initiative to ban this gruesome blood sport in Oklahoma.

Cartoonist

Dan Piraro, Bizarro—For a prolific and inspired collection of humorous cartoons that speak a thousand incisive words on behalf of animals.

Winners are selected from material released in 2002. Entries are submitted by those in the news and entertainment industry or by people's choice, with finalists voted upon by the 17-member Genesis Awards Committee.