IJNotes: An IJNet podcast

Amid the ever-evolving state of technology, regular mass layoffs, and the collapse of local news, student journalists can struggle to figure out what steps they need to take to enter and succeed in the industry once they graduate.

In the first episode of our new series on student journalism, we spoke with Chip Mahaney, emerging talent leader at E.W. Scripps Company. Mahaney recruits, mentors, and develops college and early-career professionals, making him an expert in what it takes to break into the journalism industry.
We delve into topics such as how to stand out in competitive marketing, how to utilize LinkedIn, networking tips, navigating career decisions, and more.

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Environmental crime, also known as eco-crime, is any form of illegal activity — organized or otherwise — that has a direct and negative effect on the natural world. From illegal deforestation in the Amazon, to unregulated overfishing in the Indo-Pacific, to water, air and soil pollution caused by illegal gold mines, environmental crime doesn’t just harm the environment, it also often has devastating consequences for local communities who rely on healthy ecosystems for their livelihoods.

Reporting on environmental crime can take years, combining on-the-ground investigative reporting techniques with data journalism, geo-mapping, and combing of government records. Journalists on this beat are required to not only be skilled investigative reporters, but also adept communicators who can explain why these crimes should matter to the average reader.

For more about what it takes to report on environmental crime, we spoke with Fiona Macleod, founder and director of the Oxpeckers Center for Investigative Environmental Journalism, Africa’s first investigative outlet covering environmental crime. In our podcast, Macleod discusses why she founded Oxpeckers and the impact of its multi-year investigations, while offering advice for journalists interested in reporting on environmental crime.

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No two communities will experience the effects of climate change in the same way. As the climate crisis worsens, the need for comprehensive, educational and sometimes life-saving news coverage increases.

While national and international media play an important role in covering the crisis, local outlets may be better able to understand how their communities view and bear its consequences, and what solutions are best for them.

In addition to an in-depth understanding of their local audience, local outlets benefit from more public trust than national ones. In a world where only 54% of the global population expresses “a lot” or a “great deal” of trust in what scientists say about the environment, that trust in local media is an important advantage in the ability to educate people about the climate crisis.

What exactly can local journalism bring to the way the climate crisis is covered? Why are local sources so important in producing engaging stories about the environment? And what can national journalists learn from local climate reporters?

In our newest IJNotes episode, we spoke with Tristan Baurick, an environment reporter for The Times-Picayune, a New Orleans-based newspaper. Baurick’s work focuses on coastal restoration, fisheries and the oil industry. He won the Society of Environmental Journalists’ prestigious Pulliam Award in 2020.

Baurick discusses why covering the environment from a local perspective is so critical, and how interviewing local sources can generate important impact. He also provides tips on how to report the climate crisis from different angles, and how to make climate change stories more engaging.

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Our new IJNotes podcast series will dive into reproductive health, how journalists globally are reporting on this highly personal and political issue, and the ways in which reporters can accurately and ethically cover the many related topics. To kick off the series, I spoke with Maya Miller, a reproductive health reporter at the Gulf States Newsroom, on the role local journalism plays in covering reproductive rights.
In this episode, Miller discusses the importance of local journalism, how restricted access to abortion coincides with maternal health deserts across the Gulf States, and the ways reporters can best cover Dobbs’ consequences in their own communities.

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In episode three of IJNotes, we interview Maya Srikrishnan, an immigration reporter for Voice of San Diego. Srikrishnan is one of the International Center for Journalists 2019 Bringing Home the World Fellows. As part of the fellowship, she traveled to San Pedro Sula, Honduras on a reporting trip.

In this episode, she shares the challenges, discoveries and lessons she learned covering the other side of immigration.

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