New Journalism Beat Developing: Climate Disaster/Resilience - Lots Of Openings Coming Soon . . .
EDIT
Sandy passed, and sheer luck spared the state the worst of its impacts. But did officials acknowledge the averted disaster? Not in Satija's view. “All of a sudden talk about vulnerability was over,” she recalled. “No one wanted to talk about what could have happened.” So Satija took up the task herself. Then a reporter for the Connecticut Mirror and Connecticut Public Radio, she produced award-winning reporting on shoreline vulnerability as public housing residents nervously awaited the next storm.
But, as Satija later learned, the story of disaster sidestepped then forgotten is far from unique. In 2013, after moving to Texas to become an investigative reporter and radio producer for The Texas Tribune and Reveal, she heard nearly the same story about 2008’s Hurricane Ike. Although Ike was the third most costly hurricane to hit the United States after Sandy and Katrina, little official action had been taken in its wake to ensure the state was ready for another big hurricane.
Again, Satija and her team dug into the story, this time in partnership with ProPublica. Hell and High Water, published in March, revealed that Texas remains unprepared for a major storm that could leave thousands dead and cripple Houston’s massive petrochemical industry. A second report, Boomtown, Floodtown, published in December exposes ways that Houston’s explosive development has left residents vulnerable to repeated floods.
This focus on preparedness in the face of extreme weather puts Satija, and a cadre of reporters like her, on the forefront of an evolving resiliency beat, one that examines the ways societies adapt to the impending risks of climate change. This emerging angle on the climate story comes as shifting political winds in the nation’s capital are moving away from easing global warming by reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Meanwhile, some prominent news organizations seem to be back-burnering the issue. Many communities are preparing for more frequent flooding and extreme storms, drought, wildfires and heat waves. Reporters, meanwhile, are picking up on the trend, with hundreds of examples of resiliency reporting to be found in recent months alone.
EDIT
http://www.poynter.org/2017/environmental-journalists-have-a-new-beat-coping-with-climate-disaster/444025/