By Clara Lincolnhol
Skyline High School journalism students shared their reporting work and listened to Great Lakes Echo’s senior editor speak recently at the Knight Center of Environmental Journalism.
Skyline’s journalism teacher, Annie Blais, says the Ann Arbor school’s journalism class enables students to improve their writing, become better consumers of news and find topics they’re passionate about.
David Spence
David Spence, a professor of energy regulation at the University of Texas Austin, will speak on “The Misunderstood Politics of the U.S. Energy Transition” on Thursday, Sept. 5, from noon until 1.p.m.
Spence’s free public presentation will take place in Room 191 of the Communication Arts & Sciences Building.
He will discuss his new book, Climate of Contempt: How to Rescue the U.S. Energy Transition from Voter Partisanship (Columbia University Press).
“The problem is not that elected politicians are unresponsive to voters, but that changes in electoral competition and the information environment have made politicians more responsive to the most negatively partisan voters, who in turn drive public (mis)understanding of the clean energy transition as a political challenge,” Spence says.
Earlier in the day he will talk with students in the Environmental Reporting class.
The MSU Knight Center’s initiative to diversify reporters and reporting on environmental challenges offers significant scholarships, training and jobs that benefit emerging and diverse student journalists in any field.
One focus of the program is on building expertise with paid opportunities to cover environmental threats that particularly harm marginalized communities. We’re looking for students who contribute to diversity to report on how environmental decisions threaten social justice, civil rights, the health and values of diverse communities.
The expertise of journalists is their lived experience. When it is diverse, better reporting happens and better decisions are made about environmental threats.
The program does not require environmental experience.
Right now the program is soliciting candidates for two programs:
The deadline for both programs is September 10.
Interested? Before midnight September 10, 2024, send to MSU Knight Center at mille384@msu.edu:
These programs may help you better qualify for more opportunities in Spring 2025, including internships and conference travel. The deadlines and details will be announced after the first of the year. These opportunities include:
While not required, participation in the environmental classes or as a Great Lakes Echo reporter will better qualify you for the internships and the conference.
More about this program here. Questions: Eric Freedman at freedma5@msu.edu
Jada Vasser
Jada Vasser is an MSU journalism major with a minor in documentary production and a Planet Detroit 2024 summer intern, focusing on health and environmental impacts on the Black community. Her internship is supported by the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism with a grant from the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessment/National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration at the University of Michigan.