I Knew I Wanted to Dedicate My Career to Fighting Climate Change
Meet the hell-raising Mother Jones fellows who keep us accurate and fresh.
Every six months, Mother Jones welcomes a new class of up-and-coming journalists to learn the craft of investigative reporting through a rigorous fact-checking program. It’s not easy for fellows to balance helping Mother Jones staffers fact check articles while developing their own news stories, but our new class is up to the challenge. Meet one of our Ben Bagdikian online fellows, Karen Hao:
Name: Karen Hao
Hometown: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Education: MIT B.S. in Mechanical Engineering
How did you get into journalism? I took a circuitous route into journalism. In high school, I was really passionate about sustainability and knew I wanted to dedicate my career to fighting climate change and environmental degradation. I decided to study engineering, believing that I would pursue a job in urban innovation or clean energy after undergrad. In my junior year at MIT, I took an environmental policy class; during the very first lecture, the professor talked about the critical role environmental journalists play in informing voters and shaping national discussions. It planted a seed in my mind. A few weeks later, I wrote my first op-ed for the school newspaper about fossil fuel divestment. Seeing my article get published got me hooked. The editorial staff encouraged me to write another, so I wrote a much more personal op-ed on mental health. Somehow my words tapped into the deep anxieties of students and professors across campus and at other universities. It was shared widely, and I began receiving notes in my inbox from students all over the country thanking me from bringing these issues to light. The piece also landed in the hands of a Wall Street Journal reporter, who used it in her own reporting on campus mental health. That experience inspired me to think critically about the power of journalism, and eventually led me to pursue environmental and social impact reporting.
Why is being a journalist important? As a Chinese-American, I spend a lot of time thinking about the importance of a free press. Most of my relatives live in China, where they cannot claim the same luxury, and it drastically impacts their quality of life. Like last year, when Chinese investigative reporter Chai Jing produced a documentary called “Under the Dome”, revealing the science, politics, and corruption behind China’s devastating smog. Within a week of the film’s release, the Chinese government banned it from further circulation. Without the ability to freely scrutinize government institutions, the press cannot hold them accountable.
What got you reading Mother Jones? Mother Jones always provides timely, insightful commentary. I started reading it to stay relevant.
What’s one thing you’re excited about doing at Mother Jones? I’ve already learned so many new skills that will elevate the quality of my reporting. I’m really excited to continue refining those skills by applying them to interesting stories.
What’s a podcast that you’d recommend? I would say my all-time favorite right now is More Perfect—which is coming out with a second season next year, hallelujah! But I regularly cycle between Radiolab, This American Life, The Axe Files with David Axelrod, Call Your Girlfriend, and Generation Anthropocene.
What’s one song you can’t get out of your head? “Formation” by Beyonce. And the rest of Lemonade. When I saw her live in concert, the entire stadium vibrated with so much raw energy. I felt infinite.
One TV show we must watch now? This is embarrassing, but I just started watching The West Wing for the first time ever. (I know…17 years late.) Amazingly, it’s still so relevant, arguably more so now that we’re entering very uncertain territory in this new presidency.
An article that inspired you? “Barack Obama, Neural Nets, Self-Driving Cars, and the Future of the World,” a conversation between Joi Ito and Barack Obama, published in the October 2016 issue of Wired. Just so much brain candy throughout. It helps me regain my optimism in times of need. ∎
