Time Magazine and Ford Celebrate 'Heroes for the Planet'
29 September 1998
Time Magazine and Ford Celebrate 'Heroes for the Planet' DETROIT, Sept. 29 -- TIME magazine launched in its Oct. 5
issue a multi-media environmental publishing program, "Heroes for the Planet",
featuring profiles of outstanding individuals worldwide who are using fresh
thinking and creativity to improve the environment. Ford Motor Company
is the sole advertiser of the program.
"The coming of a new millennium will, I hope, cause us to think more about
our planet and the duties we have as brief passengers on it," said TIME
Managing Editor Walter Isaacson about the magazine's decision to publish the
series.
William Clay Ford, Jr., chairman of Ford Motor Company's Environmental and
Public Policy Committee, agrees:
"My great-grandfather was more than an automotive pioneer. Henry Ford was
also a passionate environmentalist," Ford said, "He developed ways to recycle
lumber, use alcohol as fuel, slash manufacturing waste and conserve scarce
resources with revolutionary research. He even used soybean plastic parts in
the Model T. He would be proud that his company is a leader in conservation,
recycling and alternative fuels."
"Heroes for the Planet" will be featured three to four times a year in
TIME Magazine special reports and in TIME for Kids special issues. TIME has a
circulation of 4 million U.S. subscribers, while TIME for Kids reaches 2
million students in grades 2 through 6.
Editor Charles Alexander, who over the past decade has been at the
forefront of TIME's award-winning coverage of environmental issues, heads up
TIME's "Heroes" editorial effort. He edited TIME's Planet of the Year report
in 1989 and Our Precious Planet, an entire TIME International issue published
in Nov. 1997 devoted to the environmental challenges humanity will face in the
21st Century.
The first TIME magazine "Heroes" report, published the week of September
28, focuses on six people who are working to preserve ocean life. It leads
with a major profile of Sylvia Earle -- a leading champion of marine
conservation, considered by many as the one person who can fill the void left
by the legendary Jacques Cousteau's death. Her profile is by Roger
Rosenblatt, a TIME contributor and essayist on The Newshour with Jim Lehrer
(PBS). Rosenblatt's interview with Earle also was featured on Cable News
Network's "Earth Matters" on Sunday, September 27.
Earle is a world record-holding deep-sea diver, former top government
scientist, author, marine biologist and pioneer in research on the ecology of
marine ecosystems. She is former chief scientist for the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, co-founder of Deep Ocean Engineering, Inc. and
spokeswoman for Sea Web, a conservation initiative of the Pew Memorial Trusts.
She also has authored more than 100 scientific and popular publications
including "Sea Change: A Message of the Oceans" (Putnam, 1995). This book has
been called "a masterful blend of meticulous scientific investigation and
incredible adventure." In partnership with the National Geographic Society,
Earle is the recipient of a $5 million grant from the Goldman Environmental
Foundation to explore the 12 leading marine sanctuaries in a new submarine.
TIME for Kids, TIME's award winning classroom magazine, will publish a
series of three special "Heroes for the Planet" issues and related materials
(posters, teachers' guides) for fourth through sixth graders throughout the
1998-99 school year. The first issue, mailed to classrooms nationwide in late
September, comprises profiles of high achieving environmentalists in the areas
of animal conservation, forest conservation, water quality and air and land
pollution.
The magazine will announce a "Be a Hero for the Planet" competition, which
encourages classes or groups of kids to set up and execute their own projects
to help their local environment. Ten projects will be featured in the TIME
for Kids "Kid Heroes for the Planet" issue, to be published close to Earth Day
1999.
The website for TINE for Kids (http://www.timeforkids.com) will feature an
interactive timeline of the environment movement, the "Be A Hero" contest, and
a series of quizzes called "What can you do?" designed to help kids become
more involved with protecting the environment in their homes and communities.
The TIME.com website (http://www.time.com/heroes) will feature the stories and
key illustrations along with additional and exclusive multi-media content from
the magazine series, updated during the course of the series. Other
highlights: bulletin boards, environmental news, live events and online
quizzes and surveys.
