Category Archives: Bruno Takahashi

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 →

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 →

Knight Center crew attends Society of Environmental Journalists conference

Knight Center director Eric Freedman and research director Bruno Takahashi led a delegation of six students to the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference at the University of Illinois Chicago.

This year’s theme was Health, Humanity and Climate Change: The Systems That Sustain Us.

Participating students were Iasmim Amiden dos Santos, Anna Ironside, Tori Witke, Cate Kim, Lily Williams and Akia Thrower. They’ll be writing articles for the Knight Center website drawn from the conference’s workshops, field visits, presentations and panel discussions.

Retired Knight Center director Jim Detjen, a cofounder and first president of SEJ, also attended.

MSU contingent at SEJ

This photo shows the Knight Center crew with MSU alumni Brian Bienkowski, Ruth Thornton, Joe Koenig, Chioma Lewis, Emelia Askari and Gabby Nelson.

MSU Latinx Film Festival returns with international films, music and conversations

By Isabella Figueroa Nogueira

The MSU Latinx Film Festival (LxFF), cosponsored by the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, returned Feb. 19 -22 for its fourth edition, bringing international cinema, live music and conversations about immigration, environmental justice and identity to Michigan State University and venues across Lansing.

Attendees watch a film at MSU’s Latinx Film Festival. Credit: Scott Boehm.

Founded in 2018 by Scott Boehm, an assistant professor of 20th and 21st Spanish culture, the festival has grown from six films over four days into the largest Latino, Hispanic and Latin American film festival in Michigan. Nearly all of this year’s films were Michigan premieres, and more than half were Midwest premieres.

Several selections were previously screened at major international festivals, including the Berlin International Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival. Boehm said many of the films had only one or two screenings in the United States before arriving in East Lansing.

“What you’ll find is something you would expect to see in New York or Miami or Houston or San Diego or LA,” Boehm said. “But it’s in Lansing.”

This year’s lineup featured 12 full-length films and shorts from Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Spain and the United States. Topics included immigration, racism, U.S. militarism in Latin America, child sex trafficking, class, ageism and environmental justice.

Environmental justice has become a permanent part of the festival’s programming. Boehm said the climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues facing the planet and that Indigenous and marginalized communities often feel its effects first. Continue reading →