Environmental journalists face a unique challenge: covering local stories of environmental change requires an understanding of global processes. To address this challenge, Internews’ Earth Journalism Network (EJN) is launching OpenEarth.net to provide the first global GeoJournalism interface focused on surfacing patterns uncovered by local journalists around the world.
Internews’ Earth Journalism Network has been building a series of GeoJournalism websites focused on understanding, visualizing, and communicating the relationships between humans and their environment in some of the world’s most critical eco-regions. To date, there are 9 regional GeoJournalism sites focused on the three largest rainforests in the world, watersheds with headwaters in the Tibet Plateau, the temperate woodlands of the Gran Chaco, and the savannahs of Southern Africa.
The initial prototype of Open Earth, built in partnership with Stamen Design, was first demonstrated publicly at the Global Landscapes Forum in Paris, France on December 6 during the COP21 Climate Summit. The site now hosts links to more than 6,000 stories from around the world that are searchable according to region and topic.
