Earth Equity News

Columbia University Suspends Environmental Journalism Program. By Curtis Brainard, Columbia Journalism Review, October 21, 2009. "For the first time since it was created fourteen years ago, Columbia University's highly regarded dual-degree graduate program in environmental journalism will not be accepting applications for next academic year. A letter to faculty at the Graduate School of Journalism... [states:] 'As you know, media organizations across the county are in dire financial straits and thousands of journalists' jobs have been eliminated. Science and environment beats have been particularly vulnerable. Although our graduates have done well in their careers, even those still employed are finding few opportunities to do the kind of substantive reporting for which the dual degree program has trained them, as they scramble to do their own work plus that of laid-off colleagues'... Layoffs and buyouts have been rife among environmental journalists (whether more or less so than in the rest of the industry is hard to say). Many newspapers with reputations for strong coverage on that front, from the Sacramento Bee to the Columbus Dispatch, have let go of talented specialists."