It’s a tumultuous time for climate journalists, and not only because the current president and an unelected billionaire are running roughshod over US law, attacking NOAA and the Environmental Protection Agency, and installing climate deniers across the federal bureaucracy. Even as the Los Angeles fires and a rapidly melting Arctic all but scream that climate breakdown is worsening, some of the most accomplished journalists on the climate beat have had their jobs threatened or eliminated. “We need the press to be at its best now,” media analyst Margaret Sullivan wrote on Substack. But it’s hard to do our best when newsroom staffs are shrinking and owners are kowtowing to the White House.
A massive round of layoffs at CNN ousted Rachel Ramirez, a reporter whose coverage has demonstrated the expansiveness of the climate beat and who won a Covering Climate Now Journalist of the Year Award in 2024. Cost-cutting at CBS News claimed the jobs of Ben Tracy, formerly the senior national climate and environment correspondent, and his colleague, producer, Chris Spinder — finalists in the 2023 CCNow Awards. Allen Media announced it was firing meteorologists at nearly two dozen local TV stations it owns; instead, local weather reports would be supplied from distant Atlanta. Outcry from viewers at WTVA in Mississippi and elsewhere led Allen to rescind that order — for now.
A decline in local news correlates with a decrease in public health and an increase in government corruption, studies have shown, because there are fewer avenues to provide health warnings and fewer watchdogs on spending. Having fewer journalists on the climate beat would invite similar outcomes. Nor should Trump’s bluster intimidate news outlets into thinking that telling the climate story is somehow politically biased. Our job is to report facts, and human-caused climate change is a scientifically established fact.
CCNow is preparing a roster of activities to help our fellow journalists cope with this fast-moving crisis. A Talking Shop webinar will discuss how to cover the Trump administration’s actions, which veteran climate journalist Bill McKibben has summarized. And CCNow partner outlets can discuss our new initiative, The 89 Percent Project, at two Partner Town Halls on February 11, at 11am and 10pm US Eastern Time.
Meanwhile, Ezra Klein’s latest New York Times column offers insight into how journalists can avoid being overwhelmed by the Trump-Musk blitzkrieg. Citing former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, Klein noted that Trump’s media strategy has long been to throw so many outlandish statements into the public sphere that it’s hard to keep up. “People largely learn of what the government is doing through the media,” Klein wrote. “…. If you overwhelm the media — if you give it too many places it needs to look, all at once, if you keep it moving from one thing to the next… it is hard to even think coherently.”
Trump’s plan, Klein argues, “is to play king on TV. If we believe he is already king, we will be likelier to let him govern as a king…. That can only happen if we believe him.”
Journalists play an outsized role in whether the public “believes” Trump has king-like authority. When reporting on actions Trump and his administration are taking, we can describe those actions as things they are TRYING to do, not as fait accompli. We can spell out the implications of those actions: Shuttering the National Weather Service, as Project 2025 urges, would leave Americans without life-saving warnings about weather disasters. When such actions are plainly illegal, as with Trump and Musk’s desire to block the spending of funds authorized by Congress, we can say they are illegal. And we can point out, as last week’s Climate Beat noted, that the vast majority of the public — 74% in the US, 89% globally — wants their governments to “do more” about climate change, not less.
From Us
Training for CCNow Partners. Journalists working for CCNow partner outlets can now apply to receive free, hands-on training in small-group workshops. Apply no later than Wednesday, February 26.
The 89 Percent Project. Last week, CCNow announced a year-long effort to shine light on the fact that a huge majority of the global population want their governments to “do more” to fix climate change, even in this fraught political moment. We’ll kick off with a coverage event this April; we invite newsrooms and journalists everywhere to join us. Learn more.
Climate at the Border. In March, CCNow will launch a free, in-depth training and collaborative reporting effort to strengthen climate journalism along the US-Mexico border. Climate at the Border will provide journalists in the region, on both sides of the border, with the tools and confidence to cover urgent challenges facing local communities. Sign up, or send questions to training@coveringclimatenow.org.
Locally Sourced newsletter. The latest edition of our biweekly newsletter for local journalists looks at emergency alert systems, which are vital but increasingly struggle to keep up with the speed and intensity of climate-fueled disasters. Check out the Locally Sourced archive and sign up to get it every other Tuesday.
Noteworthy Stories
“Breathtakingly ignorant and dangerous.” The Union of Concerned Scientists president has harsh words for the new administration, as President Donald Trump’s Department of Transportation moves to “identify and eliminate” virtually all initiatives related to climate change, racial and gender equity, and environmental justice. “You can’t surgically remove these topics; they’re central to the mission and congressional mandates of DoT,” said Gretchen Goldman, who, prior to joining UCS led the DoT’s climate change research during the Biden administration. This coincides with similar purges of information and initiatives that the Trump administration is undertaking at other federal agencies, including the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency. By Dennis Pillion for Inside Climate News…
Degrees, but not Celsius. San Francisco State University will become the first major university to require coursework on climate justice, not just climate change, aiming to emphasize, in the school’s words, “the unequal impacts of climate change on marginalized and underserved populations and how frontline communities are often leaders in developing just climate solutions.” By Ezra David Romero for the Bay Area’s KQED…
Road may flood. A two-year investigation finds that Puerto Rico’s highway authority failed to consider, and has subsequently failed to address, environmental impacts resulting from the expansion of a major highway in the island’s western Mayagüez. The result is exacerbated flooding and damage in communities, made worse still by climate change. By Luis Joel Méndez González for Centro de Periodismo Investigativo…
Sustainability, blocked. Shorelines across India are crumbling, due to rising seas. Yet, in defiance of a court order to implement sustainable and long-term solutions, coastal state governments have drawn up few plans, resorting instead to improvised fixes, such as lining their shores with concrete blocks, which create at least as many problems as they solve for communities. By Laasya Shekhar for Scroll.in…
Accountability, blocked. Cambodia has denied re-entry to a Mongbay journalist who had reported on illegal logging and dubious carbon offsetting efforts in the country. Authorities claim Gerald Flynn — who has lived in Cambodia since 2019 and possesses both a valid Cambodian visa and work permit — falsified his visa application, in turn placing Flynn on a blacklist. The move comes amid a broader crackdown on journalists and environmental activists in the country. By Rhett Butler for Mongabay…
Resources, Events, Etc.
Climate news use and attitudes. The Reuters Institute at the University of Oxford has issued its annual “Climate change and news audiences” report, based on surveys of audiences in eight countries. The report’s 2024 edition identifies “climate perception inertia” as a key challenge for journalists, by which it means “a stagnation in public views on, attitudes to, and engagement with climate issues and information over time, despite the growing urgency of the crisis.”
Questioning scientists. The Open Notebook and SciLine offer go-to questions for journalists interviewing scientists, applicable “whether you’re covering a research study, looking for background on a topic, or jumping on breaking news.” This resource is part of the Open Notebook’s and SciLine’s “Science Reporting Quick Tips” series, designed to help journalists sharpen skills that are essential to covering science stories, regardless of their own science background.
Encuentro: Trump and climate justice. The US-based advocacy group GreenLatinos is hosting a webinar, “The first 100 days: What it means for climate justice,” part of the group’s Climate Justice & Clean Air program, on Tuesday, February 18, at 2pm US Eastern Time. Obtenga más información y regístrese.
Jobs, Opportunities, Etc.
National outlets. The New York Times is hiring a climate policy reporter (Washington, D.C.). Science is hiring a news writer intern (Washington, D.C. area preferred). CNN is hiring a senior writer and reporter for climate & weather, a climate data visuals editor, a remote extreme weather editor, and another extreme weather editor specifically based in Atlanta, Ga. (other positions are hybrid, based in any of five American cities). National Geographic is hiring a senior digital editor (Washington, D.C.). Civil Eats is hiring a staff reporter (remote). The Washington Post is hiring a democracy editor (Washington, D.C.). Politico’s E&E News is hiring a Congress reporter (Arlington, Va.).
Local outlets. Colorado Public Radio is hiring a climate solutions editor (Denver, Colo.). The Miami Herald is hiring a real estate reporter (Miami, Fla.). SFGate is hiring a Southwest contributing parks editor and a California politics reporter (San Francisco, Calif.).
Clean Energy Wire, or CLEW, is accepting applications from journalists based in Europe for an expense-paid research tour to Brussels, from March 24 to 26. “In 2025, the EU’s climate policy is at a critical stage: will the bloc’s pioneering Green Deal continue to keep climate action on top of its policy priorities – or will it get driven out by security concerns and an inflation-driven cost of living crisis?” Learn more and apply by February 9.
The 19th is accepting applications for its fourth Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Fellowship cohort. The fellowship, for alums of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, provides full-year, salaried positions in reporting, audience engagement and product management. Learn more and apply by March 31.
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