The Tampa Bay Times announced on Saturday the launch of its Environment Hub, underscoring the major news source's commitment to environmental journalism across Tampa Bay and Florida.
The Environment Hub is a dedicated reporting team comprised of four primary journalists and a coordinating editor. Members of the hub include Max Chesnes, lead environment and climate reporter; Emily L. Mahoney, energy reporter; Michaela Mulligan, environment and climate reporter; Jack Prator, environment and breaking news reporter, and Chris Tisch, senior editor/environment, breaking news and justice. Other journalists in the newsroom will contribute to build deeper and sustained coverage of the environment.
“We want to ensure we always have the reporting firepower to produce distinctive and meaningful journalism to serve Floridians. There’s so much work to do. With sustained funding, our team will continue to report on environmental issues in Tampa Bay and extending into farmlands, lakes, springs and inland streams, where pollution and threats to species and habitat are front and center,” said Tampa Bay Times Editor Mark Katches.
The Times has a strong track record of environmental coverage, highlighted by its 2022 Pulitzer Prize for the “Poisoned” series, which exposed the dangers posed by a local lead smelter. Its latest investigation “Wasting Away” published this week. The report shows the immense toll that pollution takes on Florida’s waterways. The investigation found that 89,000 acres of seagrass has withered and died, and that has cost the lives of countless manatees that starved in recent years.
To help support the roughly $500,000 annual budget of the Environment Hub core team, the Tampa Bay Times is raising funds through grants and foundations, major gifts and community partnerships.
“We believe that the Times, with its skilled journalists and commitment to local news, is a critical voice in protecting our fragile Florida environment,” said St. Petersburg resident Naomi Rutenberg, who along with her husband Robert Burn made a significant contribution to help seed the new hub. “That’s why we’re supporting the new Environment Hub.”
To learn more about supporting the Environment Hub, contact Annica Keeler, director of development, donor and community engagement at the Tampa Bay Times at akeeler@tampabay.com.
