Hearken Story Roundup: Environment, climate, recycling
Earth Day is coming up on Saturday, and it’s got us thinking about sustainable practices — not only as everyday people, but for the journalism industry as a whole. Lots of kinds of energy fuel a newsroom: breaking news adrenaline energy, election night energy, new batch of interns energy… But our favorite kind of energy is a clean, renewable resource (and one that doesn’t require you to order pizza): Curiosity.
Brought to you by Hearken’s engagement consulting team, Summer Fields, Julia Haslanger and Ellen Mayer. 🌎
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Curiosity never runs dry — more information only leads to more questions.
To celebrate both Earth Day and our the beauty of questions as a resource, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite environmental stories that came from audience questions.
Since the very beginning of Hearken, our newsrooms have been fielding audience questions about the environment, energy, and changing climates. For example, it turns out a whole lot of people in lots of different places are all curious and skeptical about how recycling works.
How recycling works (or why it doesn’t) ♻️ 🚮
For people who have access to recycling services, they want to know: how does it work? Both KUT’s ATXplained and KQED’s Bay Curious followed the journey a piece of recycling takes after listeners inquired.
For people who don’t have easy access to recycling, they want to know: Why not? WPLN’s Curious Nashville looked into why there’s no curbside glass recycling, while Michigan Radio’s MICurious explained that factors that make it harder to recycle if you live or work in downtown Detroit.
And some people don’t limit their curiosity to glass and paper — they want to know where all their waste goes, not just recycling. WOSU’s Curious Cbus tackled that question.
Let’s talk about climate change ☁️ ☀️
One listener to KRCC’s Peak Curiosity can’t help but wonder how the landscape of the Colorado he knows and loves will change as the climate does. And WBEZ’s Curious City delves into the dilemma TV meteorologists face: when to acknowledge climate change when talking about the weather. Iconic Chicago weatherman Tom Skilling weighs in on the matter.
Energy: pollution and conservation 🌫 💡
Inside Energy’s environmentally-minded audience thinks a lot about energy conservation and waste. For example, one very smart middle schooler wonders if it’s possible to reuse the waste heat created at power plants and turn it into more energy. And in Santa Barbara a KCRW listener wonders about the cleanup process after oil spills: Is it easier on land or in the ocean?
Every week, our partner newsrooms use the Hearken framework to publish great stories that were initiated by audience questions. Check out the main Hearken Story Roundup for a glimpse at what matters to audiences around the country and the world!
