Knight Center part of MSU Sustainability campaign

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The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism is part of MSU’s “Earth Month 2021” fundraising campaign focused on showcasing university initiatives that support sustainability.

As part of the campaign, MSU is highlighting its status as the only Big 10 school on the Princeton Review’s list of the Top 50 Green Colleges and its 2020 Tree Campus Higher Education recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation for its management of urban forests on campus.

“Donor support makes it possible to operate Great Lakes Echo, our award-winning news service in which students cover climate change, threats to the Great Lakes, biodiversity, natural resources, extreme weather and other key environmental issues in the Great Lakes region,” center director Eric Freedman said.

In addition to the Knight Center, other program partners are the Michigan Natural Features Inventory, MSU Institute of Water Research, Student Organic Farm, MSU Bikes, MSU Sustainability, Michigan Pollinator initiative and Residential Initiative on the Study of the Environment.

You can support the Knight Center and help Spartan students learn how to report on the world’s most important beat by donating at go.msu.edu/cp-knight-center.

Paid public radio internship for MSU students or recent MSU grads

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The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism is underwriting another paid fulltime internship at Interlochen Public Radio for an MSU student or recent MSU graduate.
This is a great opportunity for someone interested in public radio or environmental issues.
One of the station’s reporters is an MSU J-School alum who once had this internship.
It runs at least 15 weeks, ideally beginning in September, with some flexibility on timing. The deadline to apply is April 23, 2021.

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Knight Center research director Bruno Takahashi publishes about Emergency Communications Policies in Puerto Rico

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Bruno Takahashi

Knight Center research director Bruno Takahashi has published the article Emergency Communications Policies in Puerto Rico: Interaction between regulatory institutions and telecommunications companies during Hurricane Maria in the journal Telecommunications Policy. The study was led by Luis Rosario-Albert, a professor of communication at the Universidad Ana G. Méndez in Puerto Rico.

The study examined the view of telecommunications carriers’ representatives on the adequacy of emergency communications policies during Hurricane Maria in 2017 in Puerto Rico. The article also presents a policy analysis to assess the Federal Communications Commission, the Telecommunications Bureau of Puerto Rico and telecommunications companies’ emergency communications processes and outcomes. It points to ineffective government emergency communications policies due to the impact of external factors and the lack of coordination of the Puerto Rico’s electrical power provider and private telecommunications companies.

The study is part of the project Infrastructure collapse and its effects on news practices during Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, led by Takahashi and funded by the National Science Foundation.

Frank Kelley’s lasting impact on Michigan – and on me

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Then Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley, left, and David Poulson, in 1982. Image: Jerry Morton

By DAVID POULSON

LANSING — Almost 39 years ago, Attorney General Frank Kelley visited my journalism class at Michigan State University to explain government access laws.

Kelley often dropped by news organizations to give tutorials on the Open Meetings and Freedom of Information acts. Such visits garnered the favorable local news coverage he coveted.

Me? I wasn’t looking for a softball story when he extended his visits to students. I planned to use my rare shot at meeting a high state official to hit him hard about something big and controversial.

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