The University of Missouri-Kansas City announced in December hat the station’s building would close no later than Jan. 31 due to foundation problems.
The post KCUR stays on air after quick move from longtime studios appeared first on Current.
All posts by media-man
South Wales council to buy and demolish homes prone to flooding
Residents of 16 houses on Clydach Terrace in Ynysybwl express relief after repeated floods caused by climate crisis
A row of homes in a village in south Wales is to be bought by a local authority and demolished as they can no longer be protected from flooding caused by the climate crisis.
It will cost Rhondda Cynon Taf county borough council more than £2.5m to buy the 16 riverside properties, pay for legal costs and help to rehouse dozens of residents.
Continue reading...Let people be the experts of their own experiences
Since 2017, I’ve led weeklong writing seminars for The War Horse. We help veterans, service members and their families tell their stories in their own words. The people who come to our seminars are not professional writers. They arrive carrying experiences most newsrooms want to cover but rarely know how to access in a trauma-informed, community-driven way.
Instead of the newsroom interviewing veterans and their families about war or military policy, we invite them to become authors, not sources. We trust them to be the experts of their own lives.
This changes the nature of the storytelling. The stories are intimate. They challenge assumptions. They cross political lines in ways that traditional reporting often cannot. They have reached readers all over the world. And the impact goes deeper than the page.
What newsrooms can gain from this approach
Personal narrative is often treated as supplemental. But in communities where trust in institutions is frayed, and where people don’t see their lives reflected in traditional reporting, personal narrative can be transformational.
The lessons we’ve learned from nearly a decade of this work apply well beyond military communities:
- Deeper access to hard-to-reach communities. People who have lived through trauma or institutional harm are often hesitant to engage with journalists. But with trusted facilitators and clear ethical boundaries, many will share experiences they’ve never said aloud before.
- A more diverse pipeline of voices. Our seminars bring people into journalism who have never seen themselves as writers. This strengthens coverage and expands who newsrooms consider credible narrators.
- Stronger community relationships. When people feel that journalism is with them, not “about” them, they become more willing to participate, collaborate and stay engaged.
What this work requires
It would be dishonest not to acknowledge the challenges. This work is slow, emotional and requires a trauma-informed approach rooted in consent, choice and respect. Many participants arrive with a distrust of media.
Here are some practices we’ve adopted to address these challenges:
- Build trust long before publication. Our seminars prioritize psychological safety. No one is pressured to share or edited into someone they’re not.
- Honor the storyteller’s authority. Participants maintain creative control. Editors shape the piece, but the voice remains theirs.
- Recognize the emotional labor. We prepare facilitators for the realities of trauma-related writing and encourage boundaries and aftercare.
- Pay people for their work. Compensation signals that their experiences are valued and that journalism benefits from their contribution.
Every writing seminar I’ve ever taught has a moment when someone reads their story aloud for the first time. When people realize their story matters, something fundamental changes. And the public conversation shifts in ways that strengthen communities and journalism.
When newsrooms invest in helping communities tell their own stories, they’re not just improving their coverage — they’re rebuilding trust, widening access and ensuring that the people most affected by the issues we report on can shape the story from the inside.
David Chrisinger is the director of writing seminars for The War Horse and leads the Harris Writing Workshop at the University of Chicago, where he teaches trauma-informed narrative and effective public policy communication. Read his full essay here.
The post Let people be the experts of their own experiences appeared first on American Press Institute.
Empower community voices
Welcome to February’s Need to Know Special Edition, which features voices from news leaders on ways they train, partner with and convene community members to let them shape and tell their own stories.
When local newsrooms give people the tools and platforms for creative storytelling, they’re also building trust and supporting the creative and cultural health of their communities. News leaders have an opportunity to identify and create more on-ramps for both storytellers and new audiences, while creating an opportunity to embrace the roles of conveners and facilitators, not just documenters, in their communities.
We heard many ways newsrooms are doing just that at our API Local News Summit on Inclusion, Belonging and Local Leadership in October. We gathered news leaders in Washington, D.C., who spoke with one another about ways they are training and making space for trusted messengers to tell their stories in nontraditional ways that also showcase the arts, humanities and cultures unique to the community being covered.
That’s what David Chrisinger aims to do with the writing seminars he runs for The War Horse, a nonprofit newsroom devoted to reporting on the human impact of military service. These convenings are more than just workshops, he’s come to realize — they’re a powerful way to bring community expertise into the newsroom in ways that strengthen local reporting, deepen trust and widen who feels seen.
By partnering with teachers, editors and writing mentors embedded in the communities that newsrooms hope to serve, he writes, journalism can build pathways for people with lived experience to join the civic conversation. Chrisinger wrote for API about what this approach offers community members and newsrooms alike. You can find his full essay here.
The post Empower community voices appeared first on American Press Institute.
This is what it looks like when a government tries to intimidate reporters
This is The Poynter Report, your daily guide to the news about news. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every weekday. President Donald Trump and his administration, over the […]
The post This is what it looks like when a government tries to intimidate reporters appeared first on Poynter.
‘I Might Get Arrested, People’
How MAGA media outlets are fueling Trump’s crackdown on the press.
Snow Drought, Political Shifts and Strikes Batter Ski Industry in Western U.S.
Little snowpack, strikes by mountain staff and Trump administration policies that are keeping international visitors away have made this a difficult season in the Rockies and beyond.
Parallel prompting: another way to avoiding deskilling with AI
Too often discussion around using AI is “either/or” — an assumption that you either use AI for a task, or do it yourself. But there’s another option: do both.
“Parallel prompting“* is the term I use for this: while you perform a task manually, you also get the AI to perform the same task algorithmically.
For example, you might brainstorm ideas for a story while asking ChatGPT to do the same. Or you might look for potential leads in a company report — and upload it to NotebookLM to perform the same task. You might draft an FOI request but get Claude to draft one too, or get Copilot to rewrite the intro to a story while you attempt the same thing.
Then you compare the results.
The best of both worlds
There are a number of advantages to parallel prompting:
- You get the ‘best of both worlds’: AI can draw on a vast amount of indiscriminate information; you draw on a narrower but more selective knowledge base specific to your context
- It reinforces and expands knowledge: drafting a prompt encourages you to ‘teach’ the AI what you know, a common way to reinforce knowledge. It might also encourage you to learn more about something in order to design a better prompt.
- It forces externalisation and review: drafting a prompt also encourages you to break down a problem and consider your criteria for a successful result. Comparing AI responses with your own results encourages you to be more critical about both.
- Human bias and AI bias can both be addressed: AI is biased in different ways to humans, who have cognitive biases. Comparing results allows you to address both.
- It improves prompt design skills: the more prompts you design, the better you get — you’re skilling up, not deskilling.
Of course, parallel prompting means that you’re not necessarily saving time by getting AI to do a task for you — at least in the short term.
But it can save time in the long term.
For example, an FOI request drafted this way may lead to fewer problems further down the line. Or interview questions generated using parallel prompting might save time chasing up extra information later. You might do some data analysis at the same time as asking an AI tool to perform the same analysis — highlighting mistakes that you (or AI) tend to make, or better methods you can use in future.
In other words, it’s a learning process through being exposed to new ideas and methods — precisely the opposite of the deskilling that can result from poor use of AI.
*Parallel prompting has also been used to refer to using multiple prompts with different personas at the same time. That’s cool too, but not how I’m using the term.
IBM Advances Quantum Computing with Nighthawk for Clean Energy Transformations
I visited IBM’s headquarters in Yorktown last December, arriving just after a snowstorm had rolled through the Hudson Valley. The timing was fitting. Quantum computing, like winter weather, is something people talk about constantly but many don’t experience directly. At IBM’s Quantum Technology labs, you can at least hear the ... [continued]
The post IBM Advances Quantum Computing with Nighthawk for Clean Energy Transformations appeared first on CleanTechnica.
New Pumped Hydro Energy Storage System Needs No Mountains
A new, compact pumped hydro energy storage system uses lower elevations and sloping hills, avoiding the cost and environmental impacts of mountain-based storage systems.
The post New Pumped Hydro Energy Storage System Needs No Mountains appeared first on CleanTechnica.
How an Influential Energy Book Became a Drag on Decarbonization
I was scrolling through energy posts on LinkedIn recently and came across yet another argument for nuclear power that leaned heavily on David MacKay’s 2008 book Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air. It was presented as a decisive reference, as if the book still represented the state of the art ... [continued]
The post How an Influential Energy Book Became a Drag on Decarbonization appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Tesla Semi Chargers Planned For Pilot Travel Centers
Recently, there has been some encouraging EV charger news for passenger vehicles, with new chargers announced for retail outlets owned by Kroger and Walmart in a variety of states. Sheetz and WaWa also have an impressive number of EV chargers operating at some of their stores. Pilot is recognized as ... [continued]
The post Tesla Semi Chargers Planned For Pilot Travel Centers appeared first on CleanTechnica.
SpaceX Proposes One Million Solar Powered Data Centers In Earth Orbit
SpaceX has a plan to put a million solar powered data centers into orbit around the Earth to power the next generation of AI.
The post SpaceX Proposes One Million Solar Powered Data Centers In Earth Orbit appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Charge To The Parks Is Back! (Silverado EV Long Term Review Begins Now)
If you’ve been reading CleanTechnica for a while, you probably remember the Charge to the Parks Project (we’re also on Bluesky and on Facebook), where I aimed to visit all of the national parks possible on all-electric power. Along the way, I tried crazy things, like pulling a trailer full ... [continued]
The post Charge To The Parks Is Back! (Silverado EV Long Term Review Begins Now) appeared first on CleanTechnica.
750-year-old Indian poems reveal a landscape scientists got wrong
Old Indian poems and folk songs are revealing a surprising truth about the land. Scientists found that descriptions of thorny trees and open grasslands in texts written as far back as the 1200s closely match today’s savannas in western India. This suggests these landscapes are ancient and natural—not ruined forests. The discovery could reshape how conservation and tree-planting efforts are planned.
Wenn Stahl Strategien überdauert: Die Klimakosten von Deutschlands Wasserstoff-Pipeline*
Der 400 km lange Abschnitt des deutschen Wasserstoff-Backbones ist inzwischen unter Druck gesetzt, mit fossilem Wasserstoff gefüllt und wartet. Es sind keine nennenswerten Lieferanten angeschlossen und keine vertraglich gebundenen Abnehmer entnehmen Moleküle. Allein diese Tatsache rechtfertigt es, innezuhalten und die Rechnung sorgfältig aufzumachen, denn große Infrastrukturentscheidungen werden nicht automatisch klimapositiv, ... [continued]
The post Wenn Stahl Strategien überdauert: Die Klimakosten von Deutschlands Wasserstoff-Pipeline* appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Unter Druck gesetzter Stahl, fehlende Nachfrage: Deutschlands Wasserstoff-Backbone in den Energieflüssen*
Das deutsche Wasserstoff-Backbone ohne Kunden oder Lieferanten — eine Pipeline von nirgendwo nach nirgendwo — ist realer Stahl im Boden, unter Druck gesetzt und als unvermeidlich verteidigt, doch sie wird für ein Energiesystem gebaut, das sie nicht braucht. Diese Aussage klingt provokant, bis die Energieflüsse vollständig offengelegt werden. Betrachtet man ... [continued]
The post Unter Druck gesetzter Stahl, fehlende Nachfrage: Deutschlands Wasserstoff-Backbone in den Energieflüssen* appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Confronting a catastrophic water crisis as millions forced to return to Afghanistan
With the return of millions of Afghans to their homeland as they are forced from neighbouring nations, the country’s water crisis is spinning out of control – compounded by brutal aid cuts and how the Taliban is handling it. Nick Ferris reports
Snow Drought in the West Reaches Record Levels
Warm temperatures and extremely low snowfall threaten water resources for the year.
With Waters Rising, Pennsylvania’s Historical Treasures Must ‘Adapt or Collapse’
As climate change supercharges floods and rainfall, the state’s water-adjacent landmarks are especially vulnerable.
PHILADELPHIA—Karen Young stood in a cavernous room perched on the edge of the Schuylkill River that was once a public swimming pool.
Elon Musk Wants To Buy Another Election, Pitting Republicans Against Each Other
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is banking millions on US Senate hopeful Nate Morris in Kentucky, though the move could backfire as the Epstein scandal grows.
The post Elon Musk Wants To Buy Another Election, Pitting Republicans Against Each Other appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Aquifer Thermal Energy System Comes To Minnesota
A new aquifer thermal energy system in St. Paul, Minnesota promises to lower utility bills for residents by 50 percent or more.
The post Aquifer Thermal Energy System Comes To Minnesota appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Deutschlands Wasserstoff-Backbone und der lange Schatten des russischen Gases
Der neu unter Druck gesetzte Abschnitt von Deutschlands Wasserstoff-Backbone ohne Lieferanten und ohne Abnehmer wird oft als klarer Bruch mit der Vergangenheit beschrieben, als notwendige frühe Investition in eine künftige Wasserstoffwirtschaft. Der Stahl erzählt eine andere Geschichte. Trasse, Durchmesser, Alter und Wirtschaftlichkeit der Pipeline verweisen zurück auf russisches Erdgas, nicht ... [continued]
The post Deutschlands Wasserstoff-Backbone und der lange Schatten des russischen Gases appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Shutter Day
Without losing its charm
I am in Harbour Island, where all the old houses have shutters. The house where we're staying is a small cottage built in 1832. It has survived countless hurricanes.
Remember Her?
Moltbook is a Reddit for AI chatbots. NBC: Humans welcome to observe: This social network is for AI agents only. Wikipedia. Google. Bonus link.
Canada & South Korea Discuss Trade Deal As BYD Eyes India
Canada and South Korea are working toward a new trade deal that would bring more auto manufacturing to that country.
The post Canada & South Korea Discuss Trade Deal As BYD Eyes India appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Fighting Back: Utilities Challenge Coal Emergency Order
Two major utilities are protesting a federal order requiring them to operate the Craig Unit 1 coal power plant in Colorado, originally scheduled to retire on December 31 of 2025.
The post Fighting Back: Utilities Challenge Coal Emergency Order appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Die Opportunitätskosten des deutschen Wasserstoff-Backbones*
Deutschland hat inzwischen rund 400 Kilometer Wasserstoff-Backbone-Pipeline fertiggestellt und unter Druck gesetzt, ohne angeschlossene Lieferanten und ohne vertraglich gebundene Abnehmer — eine Pipeline von nirgendwo nach nirgendwo. Die Infrastruktur existiert und ist betriebsbereit, aber es fließt kein Wasserstoff zu irgendjemandem, der sich verpflichtet hat, dafür zu bezahlen. Dies ist kein ... [continued]
The post Die Opportunitätskosten des deutschen Wasserstoff-Backbones* appeared first on CleanTechnica.
A Balance Of Incentives & Penalties Works Best For Clean Energy Adoption
Governments around the world invest in fossil fuels for what is often framed as national security. However, there is a basic inconsistency of national investment in fossil fuels with mitigating climate change. Many oil and gas producers falsely claim they are simply meeting demand rather than accruing fabulous wealth. In ... [continued]
The post A Balance Of Incentives & Penalties Works Best For Clean Energy Adoption appeared first on CleanTechnica.
In Minneapolis, journalism students are learning to report under pressure amid an immigration surge
In the opening week of a new semester — and as roughly 3,000 immigration, Border Patrol and other Department of Homeland Security agents poured into Minneapolis as part of “Operation […]
The post In Minneapolis, journalism students are learning to report under pressure amid an immigration surge appeared first on Poynter.
In Florida, Questions Surround the State’s Attempt to Expand Its Role in Everglades Restoration
Gov. DeSantis says the state can expedite the massive restoration effort. Some environmentalists wonder whether costs will climb and environmental regulations will be ignored.
A few weeks after the U.S. government began incarcerating undocumented migrants in the fragile Florida Everglades, Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news event some 57 miles from the facility, in beachy Marco Island, that went somewhat unnoticed at the time among the national media.
The Promising Renewable Energy That Democrats and Republicans Actually Agree On
Decades of reliability and major savings—despite high up-front costs—suggest a future for geothermal, an energy source that also makes sense for oil and gas companies to invest in.
From our collaborating partner Living on Earth, public radio’s environmental news magazine, a conversation between producer Jenni Doering and Inside Climate News reporter Phil McKenna.
Protesters Target Cargill at One of the Company’s Major Amazonian Ports
Environmental and Indigenous groups accuse the American grain-trading company and other agribusiness giants of advocating for projects they believe will destroy Amazonian rivers and the rainforest.
As new threats emerge against the Amazon, Indigenous and environmental groups are taking aim at Cargill, the Minnesota-based grain-trading giant they see as the greatest foe of the planet’s most climate-critical rainforest.
Electric cars go mainstream as adoption surges across rich and developing nations
A wave of affordable Chinese-made EVs is accelerating the shift away from petrol cars, challenging long‑held assumptions about how transport decarbonisation unfolds
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Last year, almost every new car sold in Norway, the nature-loving country flush with oil wealth, was fully electric. In prosperous Denmark, which was all-in on petrol and diesel cars until just before Covid, sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) reached a share of 68%. In California, the share of zero-emissions vehicles hit 20%. And at least every third new car now bought by the Dutch, Finns, Belgians and Swedes burns no fuel.
These figures, which would have felt fanciful just five years ago, show the rich world leading the shift away from cars that pump out toxic gas and planet-heating pollutants. But a more startling trend is that electric car sales are also racing ahead in many developing countries. While China is known for its embrace of electric vehicles (EVs), demand has also soared in emerging markets from South America to south-east Asia. BEV sales in Turkey have caught up with the EU’s, data published this week shows.
The UK government didn’t want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I’m not surprised
The 16-month battle to reveal the truth about Sydney Water’s poo balls
Powering up: how Ethiopia is becoming an unlikely leader in the electric vehicle revolution
‘My Tesla has become ordinary’: Turkey catches up with EU in electric car sales
Continue reading...‘Humanity’s favourite food’: how to end the livestock industry but keep eating meat
Bruce Friedrich argues the only way to tackle the world’s insatiable but damaging craving for meat is like-for-like replacements like cultivated and plant-based meat
For someone aiming to end the global livestock industry, Bruce Friedrich begins his new book – called Meat – in disarming fashion: “I’m not here to tell anyone what to eat. You won’t find vegetarian or vegan recipes in this book, and you won’t find a single sentence attempting to convince you to eat differently. This book isn’t about policing your plate.”
There’s more. Friedrich, a vegan for almost four decades, says meat is “humanity’s favourite food”.
Continue reading...Electric Cars Jack Up Domestic Content — Thanks to Biden Policies
American Automobile Labeling Act reports show that the 2026 vehicle models with the biggest gains in domestic content — US and Canadian content, that is — are electric vehicle models. Experts indicate that is most likely due to policies put in place during the Biden presidency. Subsidies were implemented as ... [continued]
The post Electric Cars Jack Up Domestic Content — Thanks to Biden Policies appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Utilities Intervene Against Craig 202(c) Order
This week Colorado utilities filed a request for reconsideration against the Trump administration’s illegal coal orders following similar requests from public interest groups and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. Tri-State Generation and Transmission and Platte River Power Authority’s (PRPA) argue the federal government’s intervention to keep the Craig 1 coal unit operating violates ... [continued]
The post Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Utilities Intervene Against Craig 202(c) Order appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Why a New US Fleet Payment “First” Is Routine in Europe & China
The announcement that WEX, a major US fleet card provider, can finally combine gasoline and public EV charging into one card, one account, and one invoice lands as a small milestone that only looks novel if the frame of reference is strictly American. For US fleet operators, this closes a ... [continued]
The post Why a New US Fleet Payment “First” Is Routine in Europe & China appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Volkswagen Group China Starts Production of Its First Locally Developed Zonal Electronic Architecture
Volkswagen Group China started on-schedule production of the first vehicle built on its China Electronic Architecture (CEA), the Group’s first zonal electronic architecture. Developed, tested and produced entirely in China, the VW ID. UNYX 07 is the tech trailblazer for a new generation of Intelligent Connected Vehicles (ICV). The CEA is ... [continued]
The post Volkswagen Group China Starts Production of Its First Locally Developed Zonal Electronic Architecture appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Waymo Responds Regarding Child Hit By Robotaxi — Important Notes
A Waymo robotaxi in California hit a child, a 10-year-old girl, this week. That headline is, naturally, going to get people’s blood boiling and fears soaring. But it’s quite important to look at the details before jumping to conclusions. So, the young girl apparently ran into the road after being ... [continued]
The post Waymo Responds Regarding Child Hit By Robotaxi — Important Notes appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Clear Skies and Autonomous Waymo Rides at SFO
Time to fly! Starting yesterday, Bay Area travelers can catch their next flight at San Francisco International Airport via convenient and fully autonomous Waymo rides. We’ll start by offering SFO access to a select number of riders and will gradually welcome all riders over the coming months. Initially, pickups and ... [continued]
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