What: Join the Center for Journalism, Media and Democracy, in a discussion with leading climate journalists in the Pacific Northwest about the work they do, the challenges and opportunities they face, and the role of journalism plays in addressing today’s climate crisis.

When: 3:00 p.m. on Friday, April 28, 2023

Where: CMU 104

Register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/covering-the-climate-crisis-in-the-pacific-northwest-and-beyond-tickets-603942296667

In the roughly forty years since fossil-fuel-generated climate change was widely acknowledged, journalistic coverage of climate and environmental coverage has evolved to keep up with shifts in communication practices and strategies and to aptly address the vastness and urgency of the problem. Please join The Center for Journalism, Media and Democracy, in a discussion with leading climate journalists in the Pacific Northwest about the work they do, the challenges and opportunities they face, and the role of journalism plays in addressing today’s climate crisis.

The panel will be moderated by Center co-Director and Department of Communication Professor Adrienne Russell. Panelists include:

  • Clayton Aldern is a data journalist at Grist. He has produced reporting and data visualization that have appeared in a variety of outlets, including The Atlantic, The Economist, Logic, and on the floor of the U.S. Senate. He he’s currently working on a book about the effects of climate change and environmental degradation on neurochemistry, behavior, decision-making, and mental and emotional health.
  • Dr. Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson is the Climate Collaborations Editor for The Associated Press, Global Climate Desk. Prior to the AP, she was the youngest editor of a national newspaper in her home country of Samoa. She has covered the Pacific islands for over 20 years and founded the Pacific Environment Weekly, the first news site devoted to environment coverage in the region. As a former writer for The Guardian, she was the host of ‘An Impossible Choice’, an award-winning series on the existential nature of the climate crisis in her region. She is the first Pacific islander recipient of the Journalist of Courage and Impact Award by the East West Center and the CCNow Climate Journalism Awards. Lagipoiva is a Chieftess from the island of Savai’i and represents the Journalists Association of Samoa to the Gender Council of the International Federation of Journalists and currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network at the University of Oxford and the Council of Covering Climate Now.
  • Sarah Hoffman is a senior video producer at Crosscut and KCTS 9, focusing on science and the environment. Previously she worked as a visual journalist for the Omaha World-Herald and The Dallas Morning News. Her award winning documentary work has been featured in a variety of outlets including PBS, REI, Outside, TIME and The Wall Street Journal.
  • Monica Samayoa is an award-winning climate and environmental journalist with Oregon Public Broadcasting. Her work has covered how communities in Southern Oregon continue to recover from wildfires, as well as the decades of groundwater pollution in Eastern Oregon and its impacts to the communities. She’s also closely examined how urban planning in Portland makes heat domes particularly deadly for marginalized communities. Recently, she’s been covering the clean energy transition, climate solutions & adaptations, and environmental justice.