Overview:
- Planet Detroit joins 10 other climate-focused newsrooms to form the Climate News Task Force (CNTF), a collaborative effort to boost the impact of climate journalism.
- The initiative seeks to foster new partnerships, develop tools for content sharing, and create a funding roadmap for donors supporting climate journalism.
Planet Detroit is among 11 climate-focused newsrooms joining forces to launch the Climate News Task Force, a new initiative aimed at enhancing collaboration in climate journalism and increasing its impact. The task force seeks to address the growing public demand for accurate, solutions-focused climate reporting at a time when media resources for covering the crisis remain limited.
“The climate crisis is the biggest story on the planet, but climate journalists cannot keep up with audience demand for credible, accurate and impactful climate news,” said Emily Holden, founder and executive director of Floodlight, who is leading CNTF’s strategy. “Covering climate change requires newsrooms to devote significant resources, time and expertise to the topic — all of which are in short supply in today’s media landscape. Working together is the clear path forward.”
The Climate News Task Force aims to:
- Develop new relationships, tools, and platforms to facilitate content sharing, measure impact, and expand newsroom capacity.
- Create a funding roadmap with recommendations for philanthropic donors interested in supporting climate journalism.
The task force includes a diverse range of nonprofit news organizations with expertise in climate and environmental reporting:
- Canary Media
- Drilled
- Floodlight
- Grist
- High Country News
- Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk
- Mountain West News Bureau
- Planet Detroit
- Sentient
- Wisconsin Watch
- Mother Jones/Reveal
As a locally focused newsroom, Planet Detroit brings a critical perspective to CNTF, emphasizing environmental justice and community-driven reporting in Metro Detroit. By joining the initiative, Planet Detroit will collaborate with other newsrooms to share reporting resources, explore innovative cross-publishing strategies, and seek sustainable funding solutions for climate journalism.
“The climate crisis is not just a global issue — it has direct and immediate impacts on local communities, particularly in cities like Detroit that face environmental injustices,” said Nina Ignaczak, founder and editor of Planet Detroit.
“Local journalism plays a crucial role in making climate coverage relevant to people’s lives by connecting global climate trends to the realities on the ground. Through CNTF, we hope to strengthen our ability to tell these essential stories and bring more visibility to the communities most affected by climate change.”
The formation of CNTF builds on a report Holden authored for the philanthropic sector, highlighting gaps in climate coverage. In 2023, climate stories accounted for less than 1% of total major network content, while only 8% of U.S. journalists reported covering energy or environmental issues, compared with 28% who cover politics.
“To increase civic engagement with climate change and encourage policies in the public interest, we need to increase climate journalism, but there’s not enough funding,” said Meaghan Parker, executive director of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing, who is leading CNTF’s administration and fundraising efforts.
“With support from our visionary foundation partners, CNTF will recommend ways philanthropy can support editorially independent climate news production at scale.”
The task force is backed by grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and the Meliore Foundation, which also supported Holden’s research.
“We are excited to explore innovative possibilities for building new tools, methods of sharing content for cross-publishing, and other collaborative solutions to increase the reach and impact of newsrooms working together,” said Kat Duncan, director of innovation at the Reynolds Journalism Institute, which is leading task force convenings and platform development.
Planet Detroit’s participation in CNTF aligns with its mission to produce quality, community-centered journalism on climate, equity, health, and the environment in Metro Detroit. Through this initiative, Planet Detroit will have greater opportunities to collaborate on investigative projects, expand its reach and amplify stories that hold power accountable and drive solutions.
For more information about the Climate News Task Force or to explore partnership opportunities, contact cntf@newscollaborative.org.