The Fire Story Is Your Story
Top Story: The Fire Story Is Your Story
LA is burning!
That’s a big local story for California reporters.
But it’s a BIG local story for you, too!!
Why?
Because there’s a lot local journalists can do — preemptively — to save lives when natural disasters hit their beats.
It starts by getting real about what might be headed your way in the near future and holding officials accountable NOW for working to prevent (and or mitigate) future damage.
The good news is you already have people’s attention.
Tips on Turning the LA Story into a Local Story
(that could save lives)
Spend time with hot models. Local scientists (often at major universities and/or think tanks) all over the country are constantly making models of the climate-related natural disaster risks in their regions. These models are actually pretty cool; sometimes interactive and extremely helpful.
Find out who’s modeling potential disasters in your neck of the woods. And start informing yourself NOW.
Ask for more than a to-go bag. While local climate scientists are researching the risks — of fires, floods, landslides, tornadoes, etc. etc. — a slew of other local experts, many of them paid for by taxpayers, are coming up with actions residents and municipal leaders can take to mitigate some of the damage - or prevent natural disasters from occurring in the first place.
We’re not just talking about recommending people have their to-go bags; we’re talking major municipal projects that will keep people safer.
You need to know what the officials you cover are being told they need to do. Then, ask the seminal question. Are they doing those things?
Here’s a whole video about what LA could have done - but mostly didn’t - to prevent some of the tragic damage that has befallen its city: WATCH IT HERE.
Demand to know who’s in charge? In order to hold officials accountable, you’ve got to know who’s actually responsible for getting the safety projects on your beat launched? Is it school board members, your state legislator, the mayor, or your governor?
Name names. Once you know what the risks are, what some of the suggested preventive measures are, and who’s actually doing something - and more importantly, who isn’t - you’ve got yourself a whole slew of stories.
Story Ideas
Show Me the Bill. Is their stalled climate legislation that your state legislature is holding up?
and/ or
At a Dangerous Stand Still. Is their weak legislation as it relates to preventive measures, or unfunded mandates that aren’t getting done because…well, they’re unfunded.
Money. Money. Money. Is there a city council or a school board on your beat that refuses to pass a budget that helps protect cities and/or local schools from natural disaster damage?
Climate…What? Are their officials who are actively trying to keep solutions from happening, by spending most of their time trying to convince folks that climate disasters aren’t a thing? Who funds these climate-deniers? What’s their end game?
If the LA fires are making you feel science-y, here’s some great reading:
What’s the Science of Wildfires?
Amazing CAL MATTERS Mapping Work
Also In The News
We’re Watching
Comic Relief
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See You Next Week!
Our Staff
Executive Editor Kyle Spencer
Managing Editor Christen Gall
Our Board of Advisors
Alex Aronson, executive director of Court Accountability
David Armiak, research director for the Center for Media and Democracy
Maurice Cunningham, retired associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and author of Dark Money and The Politics of School Privatization.
Connor Gibson, founder of Grassrootbeer Investigations
Isaac Kamola, associate professor of political science at Trinity College, founder of Faculty First Responders and co-author of Free Speech and Koch Money, Manufacturing a Campus Culture War
Nancy MacLean, William H. Chafe distinguished professor of history and public policy at Duke University and author of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America
Ralph Wilson, founder of the Corporate Genome Project and co-author of Free Speech and Koch Money, Manufacturing a Campus Culture War
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