BY ERIC VAUGHAN
Email: eric12@mail.usf.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Oct. 23, 2015) – Award-winning journalist Cynthia Barnett talked about her interest in the environment and how she has turned that concern into compelling stories with student journalists from Neighborhood News Bureau at USFSP Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Barnett has a love for Florida’s environment and has spent a majority of her career writing about it for publications including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Salon and Politico. Barnett has also written three books about environmental issues; “Blue Revolution: Unmaking America’s Water Crisis;” “Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S.;” and “Rain: A Natural and Cultural History.”
“What I learned from the first two books and covering the environment in general… We are preaching to the choir,” said Barnett. “They are people who know all we wrote anyway.”
Barnett admits her first two books were geared to the more environmental scientist and activist audience. In her latest book, “Rain: A Natural and Cultural History,” Barnett takes a more lyrical approach to her prose and combines colorful language, hard facts, and science to create a balanced book that appeals to a more eclectic audience.
Barnett told the NNB journalists that now is a perfect time to get into the environmental beat. She mentions that a lot is changing in the environment and journalists are needed to tell those stories.
“For the first time since we passed those environmental protections, children are inheriting water that is dirtier and less abundant,” said Barnett. “This is a really crucial time to cover the environment.”
Barnett feels that it is important to pay close attention to the facts when writing about the environment. It is also important to be creative and captivate the audience.
“Environmental stories can be localized and can even be made lyrical,” she said.
View the entire discussion with Cynthia Barnett here.
About Neighborhood News Bureau
Neighborhood News Bureau is a working newsroom, staffed by University of South Florida St. Petersburg undergraduate and graduate students under the guidance of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies faculty members. The newsroom opened in Midtown, St. Petersburg March 2006. Its mission is to serve the Midtown and surrounding communities of St. Petersburg. For more information, visit http://www.nnbnews.com/ or email nnb@usfsp.edu.
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