Severe inclement weather has almost become a norm these days. From polar vortexes to record-breaking heat waves, the evidence is there and most scientists agree — climate change is real and it’s happening now.
This year, UI’s School of Journalism and Mass Media will use the Oppenheimer Ethics Symposium as an opportunity to branch out and explore climate change reporting instead of political reporting.
According to Kenton Bird, UI associate professor of journalism, the Oppenheimer Ethics Symposium began in 2011 as JAMM’s signature event. The UI College of Law’s annual Bellwood Memorial Lecture and the Martin Institute’s Borah Symposium — two events that draw on their schools’ strengths while educating the community on important issues — inspired Bird to create the event.
Kenton Bird | Courtesy
“I wanted to shake up the topic a little bit,” Bird said of this year’s symposium. “Our reporters recently have come from a variety of backgrounds, but we’ve sort of had a politics and government angle to the last couple of speakers.”
New York Times climate change reporter Kendra Pierre-Louis will headline the event this year. Bird said he feels climate change is one of the most pressing environmental issues of the modern era. Pierre-Louis will discuss the unique ethical issues related to reporting on climate change — including the balance between covering skeptics and scientists.
“One of those (ethical issues) is how do you provide balanced coverage that is respectful of all the viewpoints without giving too much credibility to the minority of climate skeptics and climate deniers?” Bird said. “There’s a challenge to journalists called false balance where you feel you need to give equal time or equal space to a different point of view even if the number of people who hold that view is small.”
Bird said another goal is to provide Pierre-Louis a chance to interact with students and climate scientists at UI.
Bird said he looks forward to hearing Pierre-Louis talk — he described her as an “energetic, vibrant, provocative and stimulating speaker.” He said he thinks her mix of youthfulness and experience will help journalism students and the public connect to her lecture.
“We as journalists need to know about climate change and we need to know ways to tell the story in a compelling way that doesn’t alienate audiences,” Bird said. “That’s why she titled the talk ‘Is Gloom my Beat?’ — because most of the news about climate change is discouraging and overwhelming. People tune it out because it’s not getting any better. I’m hoping that she can guide us to different approaches because there are stories of hopeful developments.”
Pierre-Louis will speak 11:45 a.m. MT, Wednesday March 27 at the City Club of Boise and at 7 p.m. PST Thursday, March 28 in the Administration Building Auditorium. She will be on the Moscow campus throughout the day Thursday to meet with students and faculty.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article misspelled Kendra Pierre-Louis’ name.