Improving Environmental Justice Coverage (w/ Yessenia Funes and Evlondo Cooper)

In mainstream media, environmental justice issues are often poorly covered or overlooked altogether. Even in 2022, when we saw extreme weather disproportionately impact frontline communities and the Jackson, Mississippi water crisis expose injustices in our public infrastructure, the environmental justice angle was often unexplored in major media coverage. How do we improvement environmental justice coverage and provide better context in mainstream media? To discuss this, two expert guest return to the show. Evlondo Cooper, a researcher with the climate and energy program at Media Matters. and Yessenia Funes, climate director for Atmos, discuss where mainstream media outlets are failing now, how coverage can improve, and cite examples of expert reporting that can serve as an inspiration for other reporters. 

Follow Evlondo Cooper's work at Media Matters

Follow Yessenia Funes' work at Atmos

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Further Reading:

Education Culture Wars Didn’t Stop Midterms Climate Wins

How 2022's best extreme weather segments point the way forward for national TV news' extreme weather coverage

10 Environmental Justice Wins in 2022 to Celebrate

The Jackson water crisis is an environmental justice story. National TV news missed an opportunity to cover it that way

Protecting Our Elders From Hurricane Ian and Beyond