How do you cover climate change in a place where many folks are skeptical of its cause? That was the question on the Reckon Interview this week, where we talked with Southerly magazine founder Lyndsey Gilpin about how both the media landscape and the literal landscape of the South are changing. Gilpin founded Southerly in 2016 to fill a gap she saw in Southern journalism. She and host John Hammontree discussed what it takes to start your own publication, and how “environmental journalism” may cover more than you think – a lot more. They also talked about how national media can do a better job covering the South. Here’s an excerpt about covering environmental issues through Southerly: Because [Southerly is] about environmental issues, it often gets the reputation that it is, you know, very progressive, or maybe people that are reluctant to talk about climate change might not want to read it. And, from the get go, my hope and the way I've tried to frame climate change and other things, is in a way that is more accessible to people that might at first glance, not want to read a story about it. In general, in the South, the conversation is too often about if people believe in climate change, and what percentage of people believe in climate change? And how is that growing from last year? Or where did it change and that sort of thing. And those stories get the headlines every year. And I know, a lot of people might disagree with me on this but it's sort of ineffective to me at this point, right? In a lot of ways. Especially to the audience that I'm talking to in this region, because it doesn't really matter if people believe in it or not. It's happening. And I found that, more often, coal miners or people living in Eastern Kentucky, where I lived recently, or people along the coast [in] North Carolina or South Carolina, are willing to talk about flooding, right? And how that's affecting their families or their health or their bank accounts. They're also willing to talk about the heat waves that are harming their crops in Georgia, or wildfires in Tennessee. And that, to me, is…they're talking about climate change and how it's affecting them or harming them. But we don't necessarily have to beat them over the head with statistics or guilt them into action. Listen and subscribe here or wherever you download podcasts. |
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