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1st Friday Focus On The Environment: New PFAS Film To Open In Ann Arbor

Sara Ganim
University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications
/
jou.ufl.edu/

Sara Ganim is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist with strong ties to Michigan.  Her new independent film, “No Defense: The U.S. Government’s War on Water,” looks into the PFAs contamination emanating from the old Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda and how our government’s conflict of interest has lead to inaction.  WEMU’s David Fair and Michigan League of Conservation Voters executive director Lisa Wozniak caught up with Sara in advance of the free screening of her film at the State Theatre in Ann Arbor on February 19th.

Lisa Wozniak
Credit Michigan League of Conservation Voters / michiganlcv.org
/
michiganlcv.org
Lisa Wozniak, executive director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters

Lisa’s career spans over two decades of environmental and conservation advocacy in the political arena.  She is a nationally- recognized expert in non-profit growth and management and a leader in Great Lakes protections.  Lisa is a three-time graduate from the University of Michigan, with a Bachelors Degree and two ensuing Masters Degrees in Social Work and Education.

Lisa serves a co-host and content partner in 89.1 WEMU's '1st Friday Focus on the Environment.'

Sara Ganim: Independent Filmmaker, Hearst Journalism Fellow - Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida  

In 2012, Ganim, then a reporter for the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, won the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting for her coverage of the Jerry Sandusky-Penn State scandal.  At 24, she was the third-youngest person to win a Pulitzer.  She also won the 2011 George Polk Award in Journalism for the story and the Patriot-News received theScripps Howard Award for Community Journalism.  That same year, Newsweek magazine named Ganim one of “150 Women Who Shake the World.”

Ganim left the Patriot-News in 2012 to join CNNand in 2015 received the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists for a story claiming that some student-athletes at NCAA Division I member colleges and universities read at a third-grade level or below.

In 2012, she also was recognized by the Associated Press Managing Editors Association for her work with student journalists.  She has taught college-level journalism and spends several days each year speaking to college and high school journalists about the profession of journalism and the transition from print to broadcast.

She left CNN to have a child and then began work on the “No Defense” film project.

“No Defense: The U.S. Government’s War on Water” is a FREE screening at the State Theater in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, February 19th.  FREE Tickets are available at www.michtheater.org  

Resources:

Michigan League of Conservation Voters

Sara Ganim Bio

“No Defense: The U.S Government’s War on Water” movie trailer

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— David Fair is the WEMU News Director and host of Morning Edition on WEMU.  You can contact David at734.487.3363, on twitter @DavidFairWEMU, or email him at dfair@emich.edu

Contact David: dfair@emich.edu
Lisa Wozniak is Executive Director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters.
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