Environmental Journalism ... and Public Narratives

I was so pleased to be invited by Cynthia Barnett (author of Blue Revolution) to participate in a water panel at the Society of Environmental Journalists national conference in Miami last week, along with Peter Gleick and Bradley Udall.  It was a lively and rich converstion with journalists from around the country, including talk about the worsening water crises related to emerging climate extremes, shortages of food, hydro-fracking, etc.  But I also threw out my view that journalists are not describing the full nature of the crisis in water.  As in the energy and food sectors, we need more coverage of the financial stresses on the current system and the need to change fundamentally the way we manage water.  Reaching out to media is another task we should all be taking seriously -- because what reporters write has so much influence over the stories and narratives people tell each other in the public square.