Environmental justice depends on local news
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Residents of Tucson, Arizona, learned about chemical contamination of their water in 1985 through the Arizona Daily Star newspaper, which spurred action from environmental justice advocate Rose Marie Augustine.
Consistent reporting by the paper revealed that Hughes Aircraft Co. had dumped trichloroethylene into Tucson waterways for 30 years. Similarly, protests in Warren County, North Carolina, gained national attention thanks to coverage from local outlets like the Daily Tar Heel and the Carolina Times.
These instances illustrate how journalism historically served as an early warning system for environmental harm and a means of holding polluters accountable. In 1987, Vernice Miller-Travis used geospatial data to demonstrate that toxic facilities were disproportionately located in communities of color. A review of her report by New York Times reporter Lena Williams brought the issue to a wider audience. More recently, Curt Guyette, working with the ACLU of Michigan, exposed lead contamination in Flint, Michigan’s drinking water in 2014.
These examples show a pattern where journalism nationalizes local environmental injustices. However, the number of local newsrooms has declined sharply. A 2025 report from Northwestern University’s Medill School for Journalism found that nearly 3,500 local newsrooms have closed since 2005, creating “news deserts” for over 50 million people. This loss of local reporting disproportionately harms rural, poor, and historically disinvested communities.
While communities like Wilmington, North Carolina, have successfully raised funds to support their local stations, consistent institutional support is needed to ensure accountability journalism can continue.
