Covering climate change sounds like someone else’s job — a reporter in a big, well-resourced national newsroom with access to brainy research and a whole team of data journalists.

But covering climate change is very much the job of very local journalists.

“People know that the climate is changing, but they have questions about what that means for them personally, and what they can do about it,” said Bernadette Woods Placky, the chief meteorologist of Climate Central, an independent group of scientists and communicators who research and report facts about climate change.

She cited research from Yale University that shows a big majority of Americans are interested in and worried about climate change. Pew research reinforces that interest and worry.

Yet that same Yale research finds that only 33% of us hear about global warming in the media on a weekly basis.  

Journalists — especially local ones — have the ability to bridge this gap, Woods Placky said.

“They can break down a global challenge into local experiences, from longer and stronger heat waves and worsening air quality, to how to prepare for rising seas and access cleaner energy.”

In partnership with Climate Central, Poynter’s Beat Academy is kicking off its second objective: helping local reporters lock into climate change and global warming. There are no dumb questions — we’ll help fill in knowledge gaps so that you can more fully understand the causes of climate change and its risks to communities. We’ll also focus on what’s already being done: the responses, adaptation strategies and resilience techniques that are being successfully deployed. Finally, and hopefully, we’ll turn you into policy experts and federal dollar sleuths. 

In this 24-week online seminar, you and a team from within your newsroom will transform your outlet's reporting on crime and criminal justice. Let Poynter guide you through a process to reimagine your work and its impact, and help you craft a strategy that elevates your public safety reporting and better serves your audience.

Your team should consist of three to six people, including a frontline reporter or producer currently responsible for telling stories about law enforcement and crime, and an editor or manager with the authority to implement editorial policies.

In person and online, September 2023 through April 2024

Funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, this fellowship for public media journalists is designed to strengthen news leadership skills and the ability to make ethical decisions. Over nine months, participants will receive individual coaching, learn from industry experts, collaborate in small peer groups, and work on a personal project that will benefit their newsroom and their own leadership. Fellows will also participate in online workshops twice a month, and meet with peer groups and coaches.

The fellowship kicks off with a one-week conference at Poynter HQ in St. Petersburg, Florida, this September.