Environmental Journalism

Environmental journalism refers to news coverage of events, issues, and conditions related to the health of environments and ecosystems. Environments include land, air, and water and may be natural (a lake or forest, for example) or built (such as a reservoir or city park). Ecosystems refer to interrelated populations of animals, plants, and other species within a given habitat, including human communities, and they also may be natural (for example, a wildlife habitat, such as a spawning ground) or built (such as a fish farm).

Many venues for environmental information exist, but environmental journalism refers only to materials published by news outlets that adhere to, and grapple with, the professional practices of journalism, including aiming for objectivity and balance. News refers to information prepared by journalists for general audiences and disseminated in newspapers, magazines, radio and television newscasts, and on the Internet. This includes specialized and niche publications, such as online environmental news services and regional environmental periodicals that follow the journalistic tradition. It generally does not include advocacy materials, such as public relations brochures or magazines published by environmental groups.

News stories from the environment beat often focus on human actions that have contributed or might contribute to the deterioration of environments and ecosystems, including their impacts on human health. Environmental news also can be purely explanatory, such as describing how air pollution travels from one part of the world to another or relaying details of research into the medicinal properties of endangered plants. Environmental journalists also strive to provide news that people can use, such as tips on how to “go green.”

This basic description belies the rather complex nature of environmental journalism. As news professionals Craig L. LaMay and Everette E. Dennis noted, the environment story can contain many tensions, including a wide range of conflicting public and political views about environmental protection. Further, the environment beat is known as one that transcends boundaries—that is, the environment story often is also a political, government, or economic story, and it can even involve crime, sports, or a combination of two or more of the above—and others as well. Stories about the environment usually contain scientific elements because of the need to explain why environmental problems occur, what their real or potential impacts are, and how they might best be solved. However, a common thread among environmental news stories is a stated or implied focus on the effects of human action on the biosphere and its human and nonhuman inhabitants.