And while Boss Hog led to major reform, we embarked initially not on a crusade but on a hunting expedition. On other occasions, I've worked with stories that fell into what I call referee journalism. One side says this, the other says that. The newspaper does a situation piece explaining the environmental issue or hazard, reflecting the differing opinions of what's happening, offering balance, and exploring as much objective information as possible to determine what is factually provable. After some amount of fighting, lobbying, negotiating or backroom dealing, the decision is made.
Reporters stick with the story until the controversy is over, then depart for the next ruckus.
Sometimes, however, we can do stories that are even more valuablestories that reveal new information and, at the same time, deepen people's understanding of the larger forces at play not just in one particular environmental dispute, but in a broader set of ongoing decisions. Boss Hog was such a story and illustrates how powerful journalism can be when it breaks new ground rather than simply summing up controversy or outrage. The agenda for environmental news coverage, however, ought to be set by news organizations. The most valuable environmental coverage is part of a long-haul commitment to journalism that exposes not just one disaster or scandal, but that explains fundamental decisions, large and small, on the way to or from such dramatic occurrences. That kind of commitment supported us as we dug further into the doings of the pork industry.