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The Rockefeller Foundation Funds NPR’s New Climate Desk

Support builds more local and regional reporting from the front lines of climate change

NEW YORK | September 14, 2022 – NPR announced today that beginning October 1st they will launch a new climate desk that will harness the strengths of existing national and international coverage and build greater local coverage capacity across the network.

“Climate might be the most important story of our time and we need a dedicated team of journalists to cover it and work across desks in our newsroom and with our international bureaus,” said NPR’s SVP of News and Editorial Director Nancy Barnes. “The new climate desk will collaborate with Member stations to do ambitious work that builds on their deep local expertise.”

“No story touches as many people as climate change. Heat waves, mega-droughts and unprecedented floods are all becoming more intense and frequent. Climate related weather disasters are upending the way people live from China to California, from Pakistan to Florida. These extreme events have caused a global food crisis, the rise of new diseases and the displacement of millions of people,” added Kissack. “With the NPR newsroom and Member stations, we’ll strive to do stories that shape the national conversation on climate change.”

Neela Banerjee, Deputy Climate editor will join Kissack, along with four climate journalists from the science desk. The new Supervising Editor of the station Energy and Environment collaborative will join this desk as well. NPR will coordinate training for station and network journalists and convene an annual national symposium on climate change for public media, as well as scientists, industry, policy makers and community activists.

NPR’s climate expansion has also been made possible by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, whose funding is helping NPR to add a new Climate Solutions reporter, as well as The Rockefeller Foundation, whose support will allow for more local and regional reporting from places now on the front lines of climate change.


About The Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on collaborative partnerships at the frontiers of science, technology, and innovation that enable individuals, families, and communities to flourish. We work throughout the world to promote the well-being of humanity and make opportunity universal and sustainable. Our focus is on scaling renewable energy for all, stimulating economic mobility, and ensuring equitable access to health care and nutritious food. For more information, sign up for our newsletter at rockefellerfoundation.org and follow us on Twitter @RockefellerFdn.

Media contacts

Davina Dukuly
The Rockefeller Foundation
+1 212 852 0000
ddukuly@rockfound.org


This press release first appeared in NPR.org on September 14th, 2022, and is reposted with permission.

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