Journalists share perspective on the coverage of oceanic communities
This is the 11th in a series of articles by Knight Center students who attended the 2026 annual convention of the Society of Environmental Journalists.
By Akia Thrower
Journalists need to cover oceanic communities knowing about the implications of climate change and tourism, understanding the historical context and connecting with people living in those communities, speakers said during the Society of Environmental Journalists’ 35th annual conference in Chicago.
Oceanic communities suffer immensely from the effects of climate change and tourism, but environmental experts say these stories are rarely covered in the mainstream media.
In the session “Reporting on Oceans through an Equity Lens,” journalists discussed strategies to provide more equitable coverage to these communities while acknowledging the historical context that shaped them throughout modern times.
(left to right) Eva Tesfaye, Luis Joel MéndezGonzález and Rachel Ramirez, with the moderator speaking to members of the Society of Environmental Journalists. Credit: Akia Thrower
Rachel Ramirez, an independent climate journalist and founder of The Confluence, an online newsletter, said journalists need to shift the narrative from the oceans as a resource to management of the oceans as a shared heritage and living entity. She added that coverage of the effects of climate change for Pacific communities often ignore the historical contexts of the area.
“Our small island states, despite contributing so little to the climate crisis, are on the front lines of the climate crisis,” Ramirez said. “Coverage has improved over the years. However, most stories lack the historical context.”
One of her reporting focuses is on deep sea mining through the lens of effects on biodiversity and the cultures of Indigenous Pacific islanders. According to Ramirez, deep sea mining extracts rare minerals and elements from the sea floor through dredging with robotic equipment that destroys the ocean floor.
“Deep sea mining poses significant dangers to the ecosystems and to island communities that rely on the ocean for their livelihood, food security and cultural preservation,” Ramirez said.
“Some of the cultural practices of these communities are giving the dead to the ocean, which sink to the bottom of the ocean. Deep sea mining vacuums the ocean floor and dredges Indigenous ancestors along with them.”
Luis Joel Méndez González speaks on the economy in Puerto Rico and the effects of tourism on the local community. Credit: Akia Thrower
Luis Joel Méndez González, an investigative journalist for Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, a nonprofit investigative news organization in Puerto Rico, said that the goal for reporters should be to translate ocean equity in a way that can connect with the audience and the communities they serve.
According to González, tourism on the coasts drives 80% of the entire tourism industry. Because of this, coastal communities are the most vulnerable to suffer from tourism, with many being displaced from their homes.
“Tourism can create vulnerability to external forces as these forces manage returns and inequity,” said González.
The effects on these communities are immense, with people unable to afford their homes because of how the economy is shaping to benefit the tourism industry, not for the people who live there, said González. Tourism also damages the local environment, leaving long-term ecological consequences.
“A lot of big tourist projects are built in ecological sensitive areas,” González said.
“For example, if a hotel is built on a beach, we are talking about potential destruction of sand dunes, coral reefs and mangroves that are critical for the Caribbean to fight against climate change.”
González added that it is imperative to report from an anti-colonial perspective because colonialism has shaped how a country or place is exploited by the tourism industry. This is crucial to sharing the whole picture to readers.
“When reporting on tourism or ocean-related economies, we need to narrate and tell the whole picture because it’s complex and embracing those complexities is important to our readers,” González said.
Eva Tesfaye speaks on the seafood processing industry and the effects on the lives of migrants. Credit: Akia Thrower
Eva Tesfaye, WWNO’s lead coastal desk reporter, said that it’s important to understand the perspective of people affected by a circumstance and to use the correct terminology when speaking on complex issues.
One of her reporting focuses is the impact of migrant labor exploitation in the seafood industry, which some people describe as modern slavery. According to Tesfaye, 80% of seafood is imported into the United States, with the focus on the international exploitation of workers and ignoring the exploitation of workers on the home front.
“Jobs in this industry are pretty dangerous, with the seafood processing industry having one of the highest rates of injury and illness out of any job in the United States. A lot of these workers are migrants on visas used for temporary seasonal labor or undocumented, making them dependent on their employers for their basic needs,” Tesfaye said.
According to Tesfaye, a lot of these workers face xenophobia, gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment. As a journalist, it’s important to find the key information from these workers, such as factors that determine workers’ wages and visa status.
“It’s important to remember that not a lot of people think they are being abused,” said Tesfaye.
More equity in reporting these issues requires looking at people who have bad experiences, publishing stories in the language of the people affected and trying to meet people in their country of origin, where there is a bit more safety and security, said Tesafaye.
It’s crucial for journalists to “keep in mind the transportation access for people and to have cultural competence and empathy. To understand their situation is a big part of reporting and building trust within those communities,” Ramirez said.
Akia Thrower
