Climate journalist Andrew Freedman correctly reached the state of the earth

Andrew Freedman, senior climate journalist at Axios, is an award-winning journalist who has covered extreme weather and climate science for over 15 years, enough to see the climate change discussions shift from “theoretical future issues” to immediate and pressing challenges. Freedman is a former editor of The Washington Post, with a Master of Law and Diplomacy from the Tufts Fletcher School and a Master of Climate and Society from Columbia.

Freedman will return to Columbia Climate School for his signature speaker series, “Go to Extreme: Life on Frontlines in Climate News.” The state of the planet talks to Friedman before coming to talk about his work as a climate journalist, the challenges and opportunities in the field and what motivates him.

How did you start with journalists and climate journalists?

I’m a weather geek that grew up. I’m also interested in news and politics. It wasn’t until college that it was discovered that climate change was a political issue and realized that it combined everything that interests me.

After an undergraduate, I came to DC, worked for a while at NOAA, and then turned into a journalist covering Capitol Hill, with an increasing focus on climate change. There are a few detours here and there, and with two graduate programs, I’m back in journalism and now masking climate change since 2003.

About twenty years later in this area, have you noticed the biggest change in the public’s reporting on climate change?

I think climate change has changed from a theoretical future problem to a current problem. When I started, science was more controversial. You have to balance the story in this wrong equivalent, where you have to quote scientists and then “skeptics.” Now, there is a very rich and diverse ecosystem in the climate report. We don’t talk about the 2100 anymore, but just use the computer model. We are talking about today’s climate disasters and consequences.

The political situation has obviously changed. At the moment, we are not a particularly suitable place to accomplish big things in the climate, which is the most low-key thing I can say. Whether you agree with their attitude or not, we are just governments that launch towards all cylinders on all climate change cylinders.

tHis information pattern is also changing. In some cases, we have billionaires in charge of the media and their reports. How do you think about how this affects how news is delivered and how do we consider reporting?

My job is to report on what actually happens to me – whether it is a climate science research study, or political action that will lead to many people being fired, and perhaps even more important actions taken by NASA and NOAA. We saw the seismic changes that science has funded and completed at the federal level, asking if we will actually continue to predict the weather accurately as we do, or share data on climate science freely.

I’m lucky to be in a place where we are very committed to reporting the truth. We are not one of the publications I think are rebalancing based on the current government. This is a real thing, and I think every journalist has to consider things we didn’t have to think about before.

wWhen reporting, do you think you are your audience? How does this affect your writing?

I co-wrote the daily newsletter. I think our audience is from executives in the oil and gas industry to lobbyists, people on Capitol Hill to those interested in the climate and those that are emerging around. Therefore, those who may be interested in clean technology or changes in the energy industry. The audience on our website is different. This is much wider. When I think of online audiences, I think of people every day.

Axios’s spell is the original audience. You see that our story now and the length of the story is driven by this desire not to waste anyone’s time and really cut down on why something matters and why it needs to be understood. This is actually the hardest type of writing I’ve ever had.

yOU has a very unique bullet point format on Axios. Has it ever felt bound, or do you think it could help you reach the point?

This will definitely make you think about what really matters before writing. I wouldn’t say this is limited, but writing climate science stories in this style can be very difficult, especially if you cover the complex research in the scientific journal. Meanwhile, it really helps to get the main ideas in the research at the top. If I’m interviewing someone or reading a report, then I always tell someone with the mentality I’m talking to me for only 30 seconds in the elevator? Because I know that’s when people watch something on their phones or on their computer screens at work.

Even the top scientists on the international stage, I have received feedback, who often briefly introduce climate science to policy makers, and our style really helps them get in and provides short, direct briefings to prevent the Prime Minister or Minister from coming out of the room and keep their Chief of Staff behind to listen to a speech from 30 pieces of light.

You have a Master of Climate and Society from Colombia. Will this experience change or help you work in any way?

I exist at the intersection of extreme weather and climate change; that’s what I really focus on. I don’t think I can do this without going through the program. A degree from Colombia helps me cover climate science and everything from El Niño phenomenon to tipping points in the climate system. I took classes on climate law, disasters, geosciences and journalism. I think [the M.A.] It is a huge help in providing us with a better knowledge base for source lists, read more skepticism research and learn how to better report scientific research.

cDid you tell me some information about your upcoming speech at a climate school?

Well, I’m a reporter for the deadline…so it might have been partially written the night before, but I want to talk about my experience in climate journalism. I want to talk about how Colombia has changed my job. I think people usually assume how media works, or just don’t know much about it. I wanted to pull the curtains a little bit, talk about what I walked through my mind as I approached a story, some stories I wrote about that I was particularly proud of and some trends that I wasn’t so proud of. This won’t be a long PowerPoint presentation, I can tell you now. I want to have a conversation with the audience.

You are reporting on very difficult topics – climate and climate change are not entirely exciting. How do you keep motivated without letting the problem hit you? How do you relax?

Very good question. That way, this is a story I did, involving the exploration of climate anxiety. But I don’t know how I did it. I think I have to stand out emotionally a lot of the time. I’ve been heavily involved in improvisation and guest comedy for over a decade and have trained in New York, the District of Columbia, and Chicago. I talked with other climate journalists about the feeling of solving this problem and they helped keep me sane. My family has laid the foundation for me and I think I just tried to focus more ordinary things in more places.

We all have roles [climate change]if you choose. I must remember that telling every climate story is not a huge burden on my shoulders. There are a lot of good journalists out there doing well. When it’s a little overwhelmed, you have to back off a little. It’s a constant battle to separate and let something sink, especially when you have a baby – climate predictions are different from what it means to be the present.