Date of Award

4-2013

Document Type

Research Paper

Department

Whittier Scholars Program

First Advisor

Nat Zappia

Second Advisor

Andrew Wallis

Abstract

The field of environmental studies has made tremendous headway in the last thirty years with exposing the escalating destructive effects of our relationship with nature. However, the cold hard facts, charts, and figures are not enough to compel populations to shift from complacency to conservation. Journalism can be a vehicle of inspiration that can unveil the human nature of compassion in order to give our earth a fighting chance. Not only on a personal level for the individual reader, but in such a way entire communities can open a discussion if just to explore options in sustainability and increase environmental awareness. The written expression in journalism may be so stirring that a reader reaches out to others with a common goal. Informing the public is the first step in the pursuit of a unified stance to protect the future health of the planet. As a form of story-telling, journalism dissects the issue of disconnection between people and the natural world as it is a platform for initiating discussion. My research includes the composition of several vignettes that reflect a type of fictional journalism. These stories highlight the conflict of drilling by Matrix Oil Company in the Whittier Hills, as well as exploring the city's environmental history and how that landscape has transformed to its present bearing. My hope is that these stories can be a point of reference in the conversation of conservation.

Comments

WSP major: Writing and the Environment

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