Making the Climate Connection

Why is one of the leading causes of climate change systematically underreported by the media, and how can we work together to reshape the conversation? Making the Climate Connection will be held in conjunction with the release of an upcoming report from Sentient Media and Faunalytics that provides new data analysis of climate media coverage, reviewing a selection of articles published by 10 national outlets, including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Out of 1000 articles, just 7 percent mention animal agriculture and, within that coverage, much of the reporting covers climate impacts to livestock rather than how the animal agriculture industry is a source of greenhouse gas emissions. Our analysis also includes a qualitative review where we note missed opportunities and highlight strong examples of stories that cover food systems emissions. Panel Discussions We know climate journalists already face an uphill challenge in their work — it’s tough enough to get resources for any climate coverage in newsrooms let alone the intersection of climate and food. To help address the challenges together, Making the Climate Connection will include two panels, each with a mix of food systems researchers and climate journalists. You'll hear from Dan Blaustein-Rejto of the Breakthrough Institute , Clare Fieseler of The Post and Courier , Sonalie Figueiras of Green Queen , Michael Grunwald of Canary Media, Georgina Gustin of Inside Climate News, Tamar Haspel from the Washington Post , Matthew Hayek of New York University, Anna Hiatt of Covering Climate Now , Nico Muzi of Madre Brava and Matt Reynolds from Wired Whether you’re a journalist, researcher, or someone who consumes media, these panels will offer insight into challenges and examine paths forward we can all take to ensure accurate reporting of the issues driving climate change. The first panel will identify roadblocks to better coverage , like shrinking budgets, competition for readers, and challenges to identifying misinformation, and discuss ways to find common threads and collectively strategize. This panel will feature Dan Blaustein-Rejto, director of food & agriculture at the Breakthrough Institute; Sonalie Figueiras, founder & CEO at Green Queen, Ekowarehouse & Source Green; Michael Grunwald, author and columnist at Canary Media; Tamar Haspel, author and columnist at Washington Post; Nico Muzi, co-founder of Madre Brava. The second panel will explore solutions , including looking at examples of successful coverage and discussing how to pitch and write stories in a way that grabs new audiences. This panel will feature Clare Fieseler, reporter for The Post and Courier; Georgina Gustin, reporter for Inside Climate News; Matthew Hayek, researcher and asst. professor of Environmental Studies at New York University; Anna Hiatt, executive editor of Covering Climate Now; Matt Reynolds, author and senior science reporter at WIRED. The panels will be hosted by Sentient Media ’s executive director, Ana Bradley and managing editor, Jenny Splitter, whose previous food and climate reporting has been published by The Guardian, Vox, Sierra magazine, Undark, and Popular Mechanics. This event is open to everyone working in the media who wants to discover the best ways to cover animal agriculture’s role in climate change, as well as members of the public who want to further their media literacy and deepen their understanding to make more informed decisions. Our hope is that this is just the beginning of an ongoing conversation with climate journalists to provide resources for better reporting, including tip sheets, explainers, and recommended resources. The panels will be followed by a 20 minute Q&A session with Sentient Media and Faunalytics.