"Winter weather conditions and frigid temperatures may force some GOP presidential hopefuls to cancel campaign events in the final stretch leading up to the Iowa caucuses. Plus, a looming polar vortex could cause low voter turnout."
"Iowa Republicans scored a big win in their yearslong battle with animal rights group as a federal appeals court reversed prior decisions striking down two state laws aimed at activists who target livestock feedlots and other agribusinesses to expose alleged animal abuses."
Nature-based climate solutions have become a much-talked-of topic, one that journalist Gabriel Popkin turned into a loose beat through which to explore the complicated realities beyond some easy narratives. The resulting stories were published widely to high praise, and in the latest Inside Story Q&A, Popkin spoke about his efforts and offered up five critical factors for producing original, impactful journalism.
"Chris Gloninger was excited to start his new job as chief meteorologist at KCCI, a TV station in Des Moines, when he moved to Iowa in 2021. He was coming from Boston to connect the dots between weather and climate change trends. Gloninger knew it might elicit some grumbling from Iowan viewers."
"In a country where the value of land often depends on access to water, powerful interests in agriculture, heavy industry and real estate draw vast amounts of water out of the ground. For generations, that water has been treated as an unlimited resource in much of the United States, freely available to anyone who owns a piece of land and can drill a well. Entire local economies have been built around the assumption that the water will never run out."
Reporting on interconnected ecosystems lends itself to better environmental stories, and so tracing how water moves across landscapes, communities, industries and regulatory schemes can help the public connect the dots. That’s how Annie Ropeik, who helps run the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, sees the watershed beat. She shares expert views and offers insights for environment journalists to use in their reporting.
When the governor of Nebraska personally attacked an investigative reporter who’d covered environmental problems in his family business, it drew a national spotlight and a quick response from free press supporters, including the Society of Environmental Journalists. WatchDog Opinion looks at what happened and observes that politicians’ name-calling of journalists has an unfortunate history — but must never be allowed to stop the truthtelling.
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