STEEL MILLS

Steel pollution still plagues Northwest Indiana

By Lillian Williams

This is the 2nd in a series of articles by Knight Center students who attended the 2026 annual convention of the Society of Environmental Journalists.

Water and air pollution caused by steel production has been negatively affecting residents of Northwest Indiana for over a century.

Terry Steagall works with Gary Advocates for Responsible Development. He said he witnessed significant water pollution during his 41 years working in steel mills.

“Our shop was right off the Indiana Harbor Ship Canal, one of the most polluted bodies of water on the Great Lakes,” Steagall said. “They’ve had to basically dredge it so the boats going through wouldn’t drag up the PCBs and other chemicals.”

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, PCBs (or polychlorinated biphenyls) were used in plastics, electrical equipment and motor oil. PCB production was banned in 1979 because of possible health risks.

Terry Steagall.
Photo by Matthew Kaplan

Pollution also adversely affects the Indiana economy, according to Steagall.

“This place at one time used to flourish with perch, and there used to be commercial fishing out here that no longer is happening,” Steagall said during a recent Society of Environmental Journalists field visit to Gary.

According to Industrious Labs, an organization that works to reduce pollution caused by industries, steel production causes significant air pollution, releasing chemicals like benzene, lead, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide.

Gary is home to the steel mill Gary Works. The city’s population has dropped from over 150,000 in 1980 to under 70,000 during the 2020 census. Continue reading →

Reporting on how climate disruption affects homeless people

This is the 1st in a series of articles by Knight Center students who attended the 2026 annual convention of the Society of Environmental Journalists.

By Lillian Williams

Lillian Williams

Journalists gathered with street outreach workers during the Society of Environmental Journalism Conference in Chicago to discuss the increasingly severe effects of climate change on the homeless and how reporters can approach the topic with humanity and respect.

Street outreach workers generally focus on connecting homeless people with shelter, employment and other support that might help them, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. 

The panel was moderated by freelance journalist Erin Rhode, who advised listeners to be aware that interviews could take away from people’s ability to meet their basic needs. 

“In some cities that I’ve worked in in Southern California, you have to be lined up by 3 p.m. if you want a shelter bed that night,” Rhode said. 

Ali Simmons is a street outreach worker with the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness. He started the discussion by detailing his firsthand experience working with homeless people during extreme weather events. 

“It was during a polar vortex. A person who was living on the street had real severe health issues and was trying to get out of that world,” Simmons said in reference to living on the street. “Each and every place where he went, because of this mental health condition, everyone kicked him out and he had nowhere to go but the cold.”

Simmons advised that reporters can effectively report on homelessness by writing about why someone is living in the streets and remains in the streets.  Continue reading →

MSU Knight Center, CLACS to host International Symposium on Democracy and Environmental Communication in Colombia

BY ANNA BARNES & SHEALYN PAULIS

The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Michigan State University (MSU) will co-organize an international symposium on environmental communication and democracy on May 4, 2026, in Chía, Colombia.

Official poster of the symposium

The event, Democracy and Environmental Communication in Latin America, hosted at the Universidad de La Sabana, is the second symposium of the Red Latinoamericana de Estudios en Comunicación Ambiental (Red LECA). The event follows the network’s inaugural symposium held last year in East Lansing, Michigan.

The symposium will examine counter-hegemonic perspectives in research at the intersection of democratic processes and environmental communication, with particular attention to the underrepresentation of Latin American perspectives in international academic spaces. Systematic barriers, such as language and emphasis on work produced in the Global North, prevent researchers from being included in global conversations. Additionally, the availability of funding is a stark contrast for academics in the Global South compared to their counterparts.

The meeting will also mark the official launch of RedLECA, an international network connecting Latin American environmental communication scholars to develop research projects, share teaching innovations, facilitate the relationship between academics and practitioners and contribute to societal change.

Through collaboration and the uplifting of these perspectives, the RedLECA network aims to build a more inclusive space for environmental communication research, said founding member and professor of environmental journalism at MSU, Dr. Bruno Takahashi. Continue reading →

Film festival showcases Journalism School water documentary

By Anna Barnes

An incomplete, 10-minute version of the documentary I’m co-directing, WealthWashed, was accepted into Skyfire Film Festival’s inaugural environmental film fest in Arizona.

The project received financial support from the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism.

WealthWashed is a documentary that traces Michigan’s complex relationship with its greatest asset: water. What begins as a story of recreation on the lakes shifts into a deeper look at access, equity and the pressures of climate migration.

Through voices from across the state, the film uncovers how climate gentrification is already taking shape in Michigan and why protecting our water is key to becoming a true model for climate resilience.

After the screening of WealthWashed, Anna Barnes, one of the documentary’s directors, participated in a Q&A session with the audience.

I was invited by the organizers of the Skyfire Film Festival in Arizona to participate in a March Q&A session about the film.

In addition to myself, the WealthWashed team consists of co-director Meg Vandermark, videographer Milo Lucas, videographer Yixuan Li and Lindsay Tague, the editor and producer.

WealthWashed was made possible by Professor of Practice Troy Hale’s Advanced Documentary Filmmaking course at Michigan State University.

You can check out our documentary website here and our instagram here. We will be announcing screenings in the East Lansing area on these platforms soon. Continue reading →