Can we tell the developing and ongoing ''cli-fi'' story? More than 150 news and blog outlets sign on for "Covering Cli-Fi Now"

More than 150  news and blog outlets sign on for "Covering Cli-Fi Now"

“CAN WE TELL the cli-fi story so that people get it?”

That’s the mission we've  urged with a project aimed at breaking the climate silence around the rise of the cli-fi genre of novels and movies that has long prevailed within the news media. ''Covering Cli-Fi Now'' aims  to convene and inform a conversation among culture, literary and science journalists about how all news outlets—big and small, digital and print, TV and radio, US-based and abroad—can do justice to the defining the literary story of our time.

More than 150 news and blog outlets have signed on so far, with more on the way. There are TV networks (CBS News) and local TV stations; major newspapers in the US (The Philadelphia Inquirer, Minneapolis Star Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times) and abroad (Asahi Shimbun and la Repubblica, the biggest newspapers in Japan and Italy, respectively); eminent specialist publications (Nature, Scientific American, InsideClimate News, Harvard Business Review); distinguished digital publications (HuffPost, Vox, The Intercept, Slate); regional outlets (The Texas Observer, Colorado Springs Gazette); public radio stations (in New York City; Washington, DC; Chicago; Philadelphia; Boston; New Orleans; Louisville; and San Francisco) and public-radio programs (Marketplace, Science Friday, The World); popular magazines (Maclean’s of Canada, Newsweek Japan); leading individual and institutional voices (blogger Dan Bloom; the radio and TV program Democracy Now!; Channel 4 UK correspondent Alex Thomson; veteran TV meteorologists Dan Satterfield, Mike Nelson, and Paul Gross); and many more.

Each of these outlets has committed to running continued coverage of focused cli-fi literary and movie coverage. We’re not here to tell people what to write or broadcast about cli-fi. All that’s required is for each outlet to make a good faith effort to increase the amount and the visibility of its cli-fi coverage—to make it clear to their audiences that climate fiction is not just one more story but the overriding literary and movie story of our time. The point is to give the cli-fi story the attention and prominence that literary critics have long said it demands so that the public and policymakers can make receive some important wake up calls. Can we, in other words, tell the cli-fi genre story so people get it?

We see ''Covering Cli-Fi Now'' as a fulfillment of journalism’s most sacred responsibilities, which are to inform people and foster constructive literary debate about common challenges and opportunities. Arguably, no problem in today’s world is more challenging, or offers brighter opportunities. In a recent report, pundits warned that humanity had just 30 generations years to wake up about the risks of runaway climate change and how cli-fi can play a literary role in the process.

Here are the names of the journalistic leaders that plan to cover cli-fi more often in the culture and book review pages of their outlets.  If you don’t see your favourite news outlets among them, ask those outlets to get in touch with us. We would welcome their participation.

We can be reached at The Cli-Fi Report at @theclifireport on Twitter or by email at danbloom@gmail.com

List (as of August 25, 2019)

Print & Online Newspapers and Magazines:

1. The Columbia Journalism Review
2. The Nation
3. The Guardian
4. The Philadelphia Inquirer/Philly.com
5. HuffPost
6. The Minneapolis Star Tribune
7. Nature (UK)
8. Scientific American
9. The Conversation (UK)
10. Asahi Shimbun (Japan) (Japan News, formerly The Daily Yomiuri)
11. la Repubblica (Italy)
12. Newsweek Japan (Japan)
13. The Seattle Times
14. Vox
15. Slate
16. The Intercept
17. The Texas Observer
18. The Coast (Canada)
19. Harvard Business Review
20. The (Colorado Springs) Gazette
21. The Nepali Times (Nepal)
22. CQ & Roll Call
23. Mongabay
24. Maclean’s (Canada)
25. National Catholic Reporter
26. Yale Climate Connections
27. Clean Energy Wire (Germany)
28. IEEE Spectrum
29. Talking Points Memo
30. The Alpinist
31. Rock and Ice
32. La Tercera (Chile)
33. Stuff (New Zealand)
34. Newsroom (New Zealand)
35. The Spinoff (New Zealand)
36. Literary Hub
37. Ecosystem Marketplace
38. Renewable Energy World
39. Ensia
40. Jolon Indian Media
41. Croakey Health Media (Australia)
42. Planet Friendly News (Canada)
43. San Francisco Chronicle
44. Bay Nature
45. Sludge
46. The Shoestring
47. The Junction (Australia)
48. The Tyee
49. InsideClimateNews
50. Nexus Media

TV & Radio:

1. CBS News (national)
2. WNYC (public radio station for New York City area)
3. WHYY (public radio station for Philadelphia area)
4. WAMU (public radio station for Washington, DC, area)
5. WBEZ (public radio station for Chicago area)
6. WBUR (public radio station for Boston area)
7. WFPL (public radio station for Louisville, KY area)
8. WWNO (public radio station for New Orleans area)
9. KQED (public radio station for San Francisco Bay area)
10. Marketplace, daily business show of American Public Media
11. The World, daily global news show of PRI and BBC
12. Science Friday, public radio news program distributed by WNYC Studios
13. Dan Satterfield, chief meteorologist, WBOC-TV, CBS affiliate in Salisbury, Maryland
14. Mike Nelson, chief meteorologist, Channel 7 Denver, ABC affiliate in Denver
15. Paul Gross, chief meteorologist, WDIV, NBC affiliate in Detroit
16. The Years Project/Years Of Living Dangerously
17. Politically Aweh, TV news show (South Africa)
18. Elemental: Covering Sustainability (regional collaborative of PBS and NPR stations in Denver, Phoenix and Los Angeles)
19. Democracy Now! (national radio and TV show)
20. The Global GoalsCast

Independent Journalists (outlets listed for identification purposes only):

1. Dan Bloom, blogger
2. David Biello, TED Talks
3. Alex Thomson, chief correspondent, Channel 4 News (UK)
4. Yereth Rosen, formerly Anchorage Daily News
5. Rex Dalton, formerly Nature
6. Isabel Seta (Brazil)
7. Michael Tatarski (Vietnam)
8. Sean Holman (Canada)
9. Nivedita Khandekar (India)
10. Preti Jha (Singapore)
11. Don Paul, contributing meteorologist, The Buffalo News
12. Peter Schwartzstein, freelance Middle East environment correspondent

Institutions:

1. Climate Matters (Climate Central, George Mason University Center for Climate Communications, and Climate Communications)
2. Solutions Journalism Network
3. Boston University
4. The Lancet Countdown On Climate Change and Health
5. Tufts University