As he posed his question, I was staring bleakly at a refrigerator, sitting open-faced in a field cluttered with pop cans and chunks of cement. Nearly 500 environmental writers, editors and reputable journalists from broadcasting companies like CNN and newspapers like the San Jose Mercury News attended the conference. The writers focused on many aspects addressing environmental apathy. They covered issues ranging from the politics of working for newspapers to environmental quality issues and policies. Aside from discussions on the general public s minimal outward concern for the environment other than a politically correct concern some journalists at the conference said their editors unwillingness to assign them to environmental investigations frequently discourages them.
Some editors say they don t want to spend time investigating issues that no one cares about.
Government, industry and special interest group representatives joined the journalists for discussions on these issues. In talking to conference attendees, I discovered that his theory is in line with what drives the journalists to write about the environment, despite their editors occasional or frequent opposition. If you haven t heard of the new Think Bike by Ford, you may want to check it out. It runs by an electric motor with a rechargeable battery, but the rider s foot must power the departing push. Water quality, droughts, the Great Lakes, water as a commodity and the question of water ownership were discussed in and out of scheduled sessions.