ecoRI News: Local Green Journalists with a Larger Purpose

It's a truism of the last ten years: The internet has led to rough sailing for many traditional news organizations.

But the situation has led to one hopeful response: The creation of local, focused news groups doing hands-on reporting in their own areas, and in the fields they know best. The result can be journalism of high quality with an immediacy and intimacy that larger news organizations are no longer equipped to provide.

A fine example of this can be found in ecoRI News. Based in Providence, ecoRI News is a digital publication covering environmental and social justice issues in southern New England – and one that's growing in readership and recognition seemingly by the hour.

The site was launched in 2009 by husband-and-wife team Frank Carini and Joanna Detz, veteran newshounds who met while working at Community Newspaper Company, in the metro Boston area. Both felt their corner of the world lacked reporting on environmental issues, so they created a green news source that's read by lawmakers, policymakers, educators, scientists, activists – and concerned citizens.

"The region is facing so many big challenges related to climate change, food security and land use," said Detz, ecoRI News' executive director. "It's our role as journalists to give people the information they need to become better stewards of the environment and to hold policymakers accountable for the decisions they make."

The company has a staff of two full-time reporters and three freelance writers. With news sections dedicated to Energy, Food & Farming, Health & Recreation, Local Economy and more, the site covers topics all across the green spectrum. There are also podcasts, green-living tips and job listings.

All this is available online, and the organization produces a free weekly e-newsletter, currently going out to 13,500 subscribers every Tuesday.

Why this heroic effort? "We only have one planet; we need to treat it better," said Detz. "We hope to help people make sustainable choices and become better guests of this planet."

--By Jim Pierce