Insights from JFP’s Climate Reporter in Winston-Salem
Posting: Wednesday, June 1, 2022
Winston-Salem Journal’s quarterly report, spanning from February 15, 2022, to May 15, 2022, highlighted top stories from climate reporter John Deem across the North Carolina region.
The most highlighted stories from Deem span from discussions relating to solar power, electric vehicles, plant fires, etc., and identity with not only the city of Winston-Salem but other cities outside of the area.
Winston-Salem’s audience reach of reporting has expanded throughout the Piedmont Triad area to readers residing in both Greensboro and High Point. Page visits for John Deem’s climate reports have been high showing interest in combating climate change amongst readers in the area.
Journalism Funding Partners sat down with John Deem and Ragan Robinson, WSJ’s digital editor, to discuss takeaways from the quarterly report and Deem’s experience on the topics he’s discussed.
Q: John, when reporting on climate issues in North Carolina these past few months, what would you say are some key takeaways you’ve noticed?
JD: While at times it seems like we’re making great progress in shifting to clean energy and cutting emissions when I look at where we are versus where we need to go, we’ve barely moved the needle in many cases. One example from my April 10 story on EVs: Based solely on a statewide, per-resident basis, the Triad’s share of North Carolina’s 1.25 million targets for registered electric vehicles by 2030 would be about 110,000. The region has hit barely 10% of that number so far. The statewide figures are just as daunting. We also aren’t adding charging infrastructure fast enough to facilitate rapid EV growth if it did happen.
I’ve also been struck by how much some companies and institutions are counting on offsets to meet their carbon goals, while others are committed to being as close to true zero as possible.
Duke Energy’s outsized influence on North Carolina’s climate goals – from its carbon plan to its net-metering proposal, to its winning bid in one of the two most recent offshore wind auctions – cannot be overstated. And the more I cover what’s happening, the more I realize that state regulations often protect the interests of utilities by essentially de-incentivizing clean energy alternatives for people who want to do the right thing. But I am heartened by ordinary – sometimes unexpected – people who consider climate change the defining issue of our time and who are committed to doing whatever they can to shrink their own carbon footprints and convince others to do the same.
Q: In a general sense, do you have a certain approach to your reporting and how you go about finding stories?
JD: For me, it’s a combination: I look for climate change angles in potential stories that might not be obvious candidates for my beat and for compelling ways to report on issues that do. When possible, I tell stories in a way that shows the impact of climate change on real people, and I always try to incorporate data and explain how it applies in a simple, straightforward way. Sometimes I find subjects and sometimes they find me, but I always look for stories that will make people say, “Gee, I never thought of it like that before.”
Q: With the younger generation typically showing more interest in climate change than older generations, does WSJ have any sort of plan in gaining that younger reach?
RR: The Journal emphasizes multi-media storytelling, including drone video, explainer video and on-the-scene raw footage, along with audio offerings, to attract younger, less traditional audiences.
A constant social media presence is a major facet of our audience-growth plans, and the Journal is working toward a strategy that will balance social media storytelling with efforts to direct readers to JournalNow.com. Additionally, Lee Enterprises is currently working to expand more robust analytics tools to local newsrooms, which should allow us more insight into how younger readers are accessing our content.
Q: What does WSJ hope for going into this next quarter?
RR: We hope to continue bringing readers climate-focused coverage that goes beyond the science to touch on the changes imminent in all our daily lives. To that end, John Deem has spent weeks reporting on a moderate-income, predominately non-white neighborhood where residents are seeing massive erosion from continual flooding. His look at climate-related threats to North Carolina’s Christmas tree industry is a likely candidate for long-term reporting. We have a project in our sights about high-risk dams across North Carolina, including in many Lee markets, and how more violent storms could be weakening them faster than ever.
John also is preparing a project focused on coastal North Carolina, investigating communities and industries directly threatened by climate change. He will pair that reporting with a closer look at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base threatened with storm surges and tidal flooding. Also on our project list: Expanding region-wide engagement in John’s work by communicating consistently with editors across Lee’s N.C. properties and providing support for localizing climate-focused stories in their communities.
1Earth Fund and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation have partnered with JFP on behalf of WSJ to help significantly improve local coverage relating to climate change news to properly inform North Carolinians of climate change causes, impacts and solutions.
About WSJ: The Winston-Salem Journal primarily serves Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, North Carolina. It also covers Northwestern North Carolina. Online: www.journalnow.com
About JFP: The mission of Journalism Funding Partners is to strengthen the depth, diversity and sustainability of local news by building and shepherding relationships between funders and local news organizations. JFP is a recognized nonprofit that acts as fiscal sponsor, allowing foundations and individual funders to contribute directly to local news, regardless of the news organization’s business model. JFP manages the funds feeding numerous news initiatives, including more than a dozen Climate reporters in the Southeast, an Equity Desk at The Sacramento Bee, an Education and Economic Mobility Desk in California’s Central Valley, the Investigative Fund of The Miami Herald and for Inclusivity and Investigative funds at the Associated Press.
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Media Contact: Rusty Coats, Executive Director | rusty@jfp-local.org | (813) 277-8959
