Washington, D.C. - The Walton Family Foundation today announced two new environmental journalism grants. The PBS NewsHour will receive its second grant to support its ongoing climate change series - Tipping Point. NPR will also receive a grant to expand its new climate desk. The reporting will highlight the impact of climate change on communities.

“People need high-quality, fact-based journalism so they can make informed decisions. That's critical as climate change is having huge impacts on our water resources,” said Moira Mcdonald, Environment Program Director of the Walton Family Foundation. "Reporting lifts up fishermen, farmers, ranchers and other communities on the front lines of climate change. Those voices help us all to understand the challenges before us, so we can find solutions together.”

PBS NewsHour's Tipping Point aims to flip the script on grim statistics in the news. It explores solutions from communities on the front lines of climate change. The Tipping Point series takes a look at on-the-ground solutions for water. The topics include agriculture, sustainable seafood and healthy river management.

The NPR grant will fund reporters and editors covering water and climate solutions. The grant will support stories at the global, national and local levels. True to public radio’s mission, their content is and will always remain free to the public. This funding will support broad, multi-platform coverage for two years. It will also support the Member Station Climate Collaborative. The collaborative aids in reporting, editing and production for NPR Member stations

The foundation supports environmental journalism at multiple organizations, including:

• The Associated Press
• Society of Environmental Journalists
• Planet Forward
• The University of Missouri, and 
• Reasons to be Cheerful 

All journalism grantees retain complete editorial control of their work.

About the Walton Family Foundation

The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. Three generations of the descendants of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, and their spouses, work together to lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. To learn more, visit www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org.