One fun way I learn about topics and share them with others is through my spot as a guest commentator on Russian-language media, NYC based RTVI. I first learned about them because they were doing a story on Chicago and I provided commentary on the challenge flooding is causing in the city, especially to low-income neighborhoods through the privatisation of the city sewer systems.
From there it has been a pleasure commenting, when I can, on a variety of issues like the Surfside Tower Collapse, and drilling and gas projects in Alaska. While I make sure to do extensive research on the ecological, sedimentary, and other impacts of the issues as much as I can through published journals, I also hope to speak about the issues in a way that speaks to the impact to the community of the area.
The impact on people's livelihoods, health, and the local economy is as important as the effect many of these topics are having on the environment. I also ensure to address equity in each topic, mentioning the disparate impacts this has on marginalized groups in communities.
I think often traditional media outlets and commentators tend to be very narrow in their reporting, in issues of ecological disasters and other climate related causes. From my time at SXSW I learned that while the framing of media is changing, many outlets do not connect disasters and climate or inspire their audiences to take action. RTVI does a great job at framing issues in terms of what can be done about it, and I think this a model more outlets should follow.
You can catch the (dubbed) versions on their youtube channel here .
Σχόλια