Enhancing Environmental Justice Coverage in the Great Lakes Region through Community-Based Media Models

Financial strain in the media industry has contributed to a decline in local coverage and a a subsequent increase in community distrust. The already underfunded environmental journalism subsector has been significantly impacted, resulting in decreased and inadequate resources, particularly for coverage of environmental justice-related issues. Utilizing the Great Lakes region of the U.S.A. as a case study to assess the prospects for increasing equitable community engagement for environmentally-oriented media, we conducted an extensive literature review and 42 semi-structured interviews with community leaders, media organizations, experts and funders. The findings point to the critical importance of strong internal organizational management – including identifying barriers, setting goals and building capacity – as the basis for community engagement. Building from this base, media organization focused on enhancing community relationships and co-producing stories can gain trust and market share. Producing and distributing community-oriented media requires more diversified modes of storytelling that reach multiple audiences, amplify locally-based solutions, invoke civic action and – ultimately – increase readership. We found that while implementing this community-based media model can have positive financial outcomes, philanthropic foundations would have to increase funding for community engagement and environmental justice coverage in order to overcome initial barriers to adoption.