Author Archives: Dave Poulson

Using Bloody Run Creek to engage new environmental news consumers

By Emanuele BerryBloody Run Creek was once called Parent's Creek. The name was changed after a battle during Pontiac's Rebellion. The waterway was said to have run red with British blood. Photo: Emanuele Berry

Bloody Run Creek flows behind this bridge rail.  Photo: Emanuele Berry


By David Poulson
Making environmental issues relevant to the public means more than reporting for activists, scientists, regulators, industry types and others who are already engaged in them.
If you’re serious about covering the environment, you need to find the environmental angle to everything you report. That’s a surprisingly easy way to connect news consumers to environmental subjects they otherwise would ignore.
I’ve been thinking recently of a corollary: Find the non-environmental angle in every environmental story.
That has implications for story construction but perhaps even more so for story marketing. Here’s what I mean:
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MSU students wanted for reporting positions

Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism seeks reporters for its award-winning Great Lakes Echo environmental news service.

These are paid positions for MSU students. Reporters work 10 to 12 hours a week on a flexible schedule during the day. The job is physically located in the Knight Center’s offices at 382 Communication Arts and Sciences.

Preferred candidates will have a record of previously published/produced work and an interest in the environment. Neither are required.

Echo journalists mostly report with text but often report with video, audio, slideshows and other journalism forms. They need not be the Swiss army knife of journalism. Applicants should emphasize their strengths – the more the better.

An ability to hustle is particularly valued.

By noon Friday, Sept. 6, 2013, applicants should submit:

  • One-page resume
  • News writing samples or links to them
  • A 100-word essay explaining why you are right for the job
  • Three references with contact information

Send materials attached to a single message to Barb Miller at mille384@msu.edu.

Questions? Contact Knight Center Associate Director David Poulson at poulsondavid@gmail.com or 517 432 5417.

Environmental Journalism Association to meet Sept. 5

MSU's student Environmental Journalism Association goes on field trips, meets with newsmakers, produces journalism.

Members of MSU’s student Environmental Journalism Association go on field trips, meet with newsmakers, produce journalism.


Free pizza and pop?
Can’t beat that deal. It’s the one you get at the organizational meeting of the student Environmental Journalism Association at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 5.
The group meets at the Knight Center offices at 382 Communication Arts and Sciences. Just email Barb Miller, mille384@msu.edu, if you’re coming so that she can make sure to have enough food.
This group can plan field trips, meet with environmental newsmakers visiting campus, hold peer editing sessions and movie nights or learn how to report for Great Lakes Echo.
Membership is open to all MSU students – you do not need to be a journalism major.
Interested but can’t make it? Email Barb at mille384@msu.edu.

Knight Center, WKAR launch Detroit waterfront series

By Emanuele BerryBloody Run Creek was once called Parent's Creek. The name was changed after a battle during Pontiac's Rebellion. The waterway was said to have run red with British blood. Photo: Emanuele Berry

By Emanuele Berry
Detroit’s Bloody Run Creek is said to have run red with British blood. Photo: Emanuele Berry


By David Poulson
The Knight Center and WKAR public radio just launched a series of audio reports about the promise and recovery of Detroit’s waterfront.
It is a significant issue for a struggling city. It is also significant for the way it was created. Our partnership with WKAR has greatly extended our reach. We support regular environmental programming each Tuesday on WKAR’s Current State public affairs program. Those interviews are also featured on the center’s Great Lakes Echo news site.
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