The public’s main source for information about the environment and climate change comes from the news, but not enough people are reading it.
That was the challenge discussed by a group of journalists on April 25 at the Society of Environmental Journalists Conference, an event in Tempe intended to improve the accuracy and quality of environmental reporting.
Paige Vega, a climate editor at Vox, said making coverage appealing to a general national audience requires defining that audience, which is “the curious and overwhelmed.” Appealing to people’s emotional vulnerability is necessary to get people to listen, especially in a political climate where audiences may be desensitized. People are waiting to be surprised, she said.
She said it also is “effective to tap into that sense of disgust or sense of betrayal or something … that evokes strong emotions in your reader. I think that is the real key to unlocking the story.”
Maintaining a conversational tone is another way to grab readers, especially about an issue that requires urgency.
“We just try to talk to people on the level that they’re on,” Vega said. “And part of that is we know our audience isn’t always a bunch of biodiversity nerds or people who are really in the know about how ecosystems work. So we’re trying to reach people who can just kind of be harmed in unexpected ways.”
Readers also tend to be drawn to issues they feel strongly about.
“People are really interested in the ethical dilemma,” said Michelle Nijhuis, a contributing editor for High Country News.
Eleri Mosier is a senior at Arizona State University, and is part of a student newsroom led by The Arizona Republic.
Coverage of the Society of Environmental Journalists conference is supported by Arizona State University’s Cronkite School of Journalism, the University of Arizona. the Arizona Media Association and the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
These stories are published open-source for other news outlets and organizations to share and republish, with credit and links to azcentral.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What’s the best way to get more people to read environmental news?