We refuse to accept limits newsroom budgets have on high-quality imagery in local news. Our editorial partnerships lead to increased access to comprehensive reporting on the defining topic of our lifetime.
The editorial and natural landscapes in the United States will never look the same; reaching readers is in steep decline, and the environment is being redefined in ways never witnessed in recordable human history. Local news deserts are leaving informational shortfalls on American doorsteps, with almost 1,800 newspapers closed in the last 15 years. Our backyards, meanwhile, are on fire and underwater, as living with the effects of climate change has become common. Droughts, wildfires, tropical depressions and other extreme weather contributed to the highest recorded yearly average of billion-dollar disasters in the United States between 2016 and 2018 — nearly doubling the historic average between 1980 and 2018.
Screens and newsprint immerse viewers in images that have made these disasters familiar. As we react intuitively by sharing, commenting and liking, our contemporary media-consuming practices disclose a bond between neighbors: climate effects favor no one human and all together determine its future impacts. Nevertheless, visual storytelling is particularly vulnerable as the footprint of local media is threatened.
The limitations of local media leave communities less informed and less educated at a critical moment in the response to global warming. As the climate emergency progresses, a reliable media industry is essential to understanding the imminent impacts upon life on Earth.
Under these circumstances, the launch of Deep Indigo creates a reliable visual storytelling resource for newsrooms and audiences. The nonprofit ensures that visual context to complex environmental issues is available where and when it is needed.
