Environment Reporter Focuses on Mississippi River Watershed

Madeline Heim, an environment reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, is a member of Report for America corps, focusing her efforts on Wisconsin’s environmental challenges, with a keen eye on the Mississippi River watershed. Additionally, she contributes her expertise to the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, a project based at the Missouri School of Journalism, where she covers critical topics such as water quality, land use, farming, and climate change. She spoke with JAMS 660 Environment and the Media student Evan Yang.

Q: In your experience, what are some of the most significant environmental challenges facing Wisconsin, and how do you see them evolving in the coming years?

A: I think threats to our water quality (PFAS and nutrient pollution from farms and industry, in particular) is a major challenge at the moment, putting human health, our recreational experiences and the health of fish and wildlife at risk. The effects of climate change, particularly extreme weather like worsening heat waves and floods, will pose other significant challenges. These problems are all tough to solve (and will grow tougher), but I also think we will continue to see technological innovations and funding aimed at fixing them. This includes things like the rollout of Inflation Reduction Act funding, much of which is directed at climate solutions. If done smartly and equitably, we could start to see progress.

Q: What role do you think local journalism plays in addressing environmental issues, especially at a time when newsrooms face various challenges?

A: Many people still think of climate change as a faraway issue that will only affect the polar bears or one that will start to affect us in a few centuries. Local journalism can show our readers that it’s here and now, already affecting the way we live: worsening asthma and allergies, making insurance costs rise, and causing wildfire smoke to drift further and turn our skies orange, as we saw last summer, for example. People start to care when things get personal, and local journalism can help explain that.

Q: From your perspective, what do you believe the media could do better in terms of covering environmental issues, both locally and nationally?

A: Locally, I think newsrooms could do a better job showing how climate and environment stories transcend specific beats or coverage areas. Housing, crime, education, politics and business are all affected by climate change and other environmental issues (see a recent story on AmFam Field’s insurance costs rising as an example), and I think newsrooms would do well to start incorporating these topics into all beats.

Nationally, I’d like to see environment reporters A) focus more on explaining how these issues impact people’s daily lives, as expressed in my previous answer, and B) incorporate potential solutions when realistic and applicable. Yes, things are scary, but research shows that heaping doom and gloom on people doesn’t make them more likely to take action to fix problems.

Q: How do you approach engaging with communities that may have different perspectives or priorities regarding environmental issues?

A: I think one of journalists’ most important jobs is to listen, and when I’m working with communities that might have different perspectives or priorities, I always listen to understand where they are coming from. For example, I write a lot about how our farming practices are hurting the environment, but I’ve made it a priority to meet a wide array of farmers and really understand where they are coming from. This helps give my stories nuance and depth.

Q: Where do you typically turn to for reliable news and information about environmental issues, and how do you discern between credible sources and misinformation?

A: I’ve developed a list of other environmental reporters and reputable news outlets I trust to give accurate information with context. For my own reporting, I use reports from nonpartisan government bodies like USGS, and when a source puts out information that I feel might be biased, I always check it with another source. If I’m trying to determine whether something is misinformation, I check out which sources they are citing when making their claim, and then use good old computer literacy skills … is it coming from a .gov or .org web address, etc. I also will search the name of the organization that put out the claim and read about them to learn what angle they might be approaching the issue from.