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PLANETA

10+ Ways to Improve Environmental Journalism
by Ron Mader

PLANETA FORUM

The cosmos is not an object in which we discover life; it is a living subject in a process of becoming.
- Earth Notebook

VIDEOS: YouTube

BIG IDEAS

There is no better way to understand the world than by keeping an eye on environmental awareness and action. Environmental issues are front and center for much of the world. People actually care about biodiversity and climate change that were unheard of five years ago. Sustainability is less and less of a buzzword

The question is ... are we engaged in pushing the envelope of environmental awareness, research and action? How are we active participants in making our lives more sustainable?

Environmental journalism is actually doing quite well. The challenge, though, is learning what is being done. Books available in Australia in New Zealand are not easily found in the USA. Likewise there is a lag in getting books across the Atlantic. While there are a number of environmental reporting websites, there are no comprehensive search engines or wikis that showcase the best in global environmental reporting.

PRACTICAL TIPS

1) Readers who respect environmental reporting need to write letters to the editor, digg, tag, fave, blog, whatever the option is to show their support of the coverage. This needs to be done now!

2) Readers passionate about environmental issues need to become reporters, citizen journalism, informing us of the news.

3) Publishers committed to environmental reporting need to feature the coverage on the front page or the home page, not buried on page 35 or three links down on a website.

4) Donors wishing to support environmental journalism workshops need to ask whether the training they finance anwers the needs of the reporters. There is a great deal of 'philanthropic' work that does not stick simply because it is not requested.

5) All conferences, trade shows and 'events' should be evaluated in terms of their eco-, people- and place-friendliness.

6) Environmental events and environmental journalism conferences need to be leaders in using online forums and conferences to proceed and follow-up the events in the natural world.

7) More inclusive, rather than exclusive meetings.

8) More Flickrmeets! More BarCamps. Be creative and find ways to connect the natural and virtual worlds.