Presentation: Covering Climate Now

Mekdela Maskal of Covering Climate Now explores why people are being driven away from climate journalism when most people support climate action.  She'll be in conversation with Ezra Romero of KQED. Many of us seem to be drowning in alarming coverage or tuning out entirely. With misinformation spreading faster than ever, even the most engaged readers struggle to know what to trust. Drawing on her work with newsrooms across the globe, she'll share practical tools for spotting misinformation, cutting through doom and gloom to find the stories that matter, and becoming a sharper, more confident consumer of climate news.

Covering Climate Now (CCNow) is a global journalism initiative co-founded by Columbia Journalism Review and The Nation that works with over 500 newsroom partners in 60+ countries to improve and expand climate coverage worldwide.

Mekdela Maskal is the Engagement Director at CCNow. Prior to this, she helped launch THE CITY's Open Newsroom project in New York City, bringing communities and journalists together in public libraries to build trust and make reporting a more collaborative process. A community engagement practitioner, journalist, and prescribed firelighter, Mekdela's work is rooted in repairing relationships — through media, land, and art. She holds an M.S. in Media, Culture and Communications from NYU and a Master's in Community Engaged Journalism from CUNY, and currently serves as a Public Art Commissioner for Nevada City.

Ezra David Romero is a climate reporter for KQED News. He covers the absence and excess of water in the Bay Area — think sea level rise, flooding and drought. For nearly a decade he’s covered how warming temperatures are altering the lives of Californians. His work has appeared on local stations across California and nationally on public radio shows like Morning Edition, Here and Now, All Things Considered and Science Friday.