Gleaning Rural Journalism: Rural Journalists' Agricultural and Environmental Reporting Utilizing Community Storytelling Networks^☆

Abstract

Environmental concerns are growing in parts of the rural United States as drinking water wells become contaminated with agrichemicals, and climate change impacts such as drought and extreme rain events disrupt farming practices. Analyzing in‐depth interviews with 29 U.S. rural journalists, we explore the role rural journalists play when reporting on the environment as it relates to agricultural issues. Findings show that reporting about the environment—such as weather, climate change, water shortages, and droughts—appear in rural journalists' stories given those topics' relevance to their rural communities and the social systems forces exerting influence on journalists, yet rural journalists often do not perceive themselves as doing environmental reporting. Rural journalists also report lacking training and resources to do environmental reporting. This study points to the need for more support for rural journalists' environmental reporting as one way to build social change and maintain local community.