'Meet the Press' talks climate

Author: Erin Lackey

On May 4, at 4:30 PM, Andrew Revkin will present a lecture on media coverage of climate change in McCardell Bicentennial Hall. This discussion, entitled "The Daily Planet: Why the Media Stumble When Covering Climate Change and Other 21st century Environmental Issues," is part of the "Meet the Press" series sponsored by the Middlebury College English Department and Atwater Commons.

Revkin is a science and environment reporter for The New York Times. He has been writing about environmental issues for 20 years and has an immense knowledge of these topics. Author Sue Halpern describes Revkin as "one of few journalists that has been plugging away at this issue for years. He knows the science and knows the issues." Since his awareness about climate change is so extensive, members of Middlebury's academic community appear very excited to hear his thoughts on the media's coverage of climate change.

In the lecture, Revkin will speak about the challenges facing environmental reporting and may present some possible solutions. Some of the topics in addition to climate change planned for discussion will include oil dependency and protection of endangered species. Said Halpern, "According to Revkin, news is typically described as an immediate happening that is relevant to the lives or concerns of a media outlet's readers or viewers. Global warming is the antithesis of that, with its impact spread out over time and geography and laden with uncertainty."

The "Meet the Press" series decided to have Revkin speak because environmental stories are so prominent at Middlebury. About a month ago, Elizabeth Colbert spoke about similar issues, but was unable to answer some questions asked of her because they did not apply to her field. In addition, many students were disturbed by the fact that a global warming publicity trip to Montreal in January wasn't covered by the press. Colbert could not answer their questions about why this occurred since she is not a daily reporter. However Revkin, a journalist, should know why and will be able to explain how the press decides which stories to run and how to frame them.

Revkin has worked at The New York Times since 1995. He has also written for Discover Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker and Science Digest. He has written several books, one of which is due later this month: "The North Pole Was Here: Puzzles and Perils at the Top of the World." The book will feature his arctic expedition for The New York Times and describe the history of Arctic exploration, climate modeling and the future of the North Pole. His other book, "The Burning Season," was published in 2004 and investigated the murder of a prominent environmental activist in Brazil.

The "Meet the Press" series was created several years ago and selects four or five speakers each year to visit campus. Unlike many lecture series, there is much more room for dialogue between audience members and speakers in "Meet the Press." Speakers typically lecture for 20 minutes and then take questions from attendees for roughly twice that time. This style is very attractive because it allows for a more participatory feeling. As a result of this more interactive lecture style, "Meet the Press" has seen some of the best attendance among the campus' various lecture series.