Celebrating the Union of Environmental Solutions and Journalism
This newsletter is 836 words long, a 6.4-minute read
February 6, 2024
This month, our new contributor to the newsletter, Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman, shares the story of Planète Bleue, Idées Vertes, an environmental solutions column celebrating five years of weekly publications in La Presse. I have been reading them since day one, and the people who crafted the hundreds of stories published so far deserve that we highlight their important work, engaging audiences with real, verified solutions while staying true to journalism’s higher standards.
Our best climate picks from the last few weeks in Canadian media come right after!
Amélie
Five years of environmental solutions journalism at La Presse
Launched in 2019, the rubric Planète bleue, idéee vertes discusses topics such as building parks on former mining sites, or fighting the wasteful use of fish scraps.
By Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman
Barely five years ago, Jean-Thomas Léveillé signed the first story of his new rubric, Planète bleue, idées vertes. The journalist had taken the role of environmental reporter at La Presse a few months earlier, a role that had been vacant for a while. Through the storm of daily bad news to report on, he came up with a rubric that would shine a light on the efforts of individuals taking action. Five years later, and with around 340 topics under its belt, according to La Presse’s archives, the weekly rubric has proved its pertinence.
Screenshot of the rubric Planète bleue, idées vertes in La Presse+.
“Quickly, I realized that there were a lot of topics that weren't necessarily burning breaking news,” recalls Léveillé about his first few months at La Presse. He found these topics interesting and believed they deserved to be reported on, which sparked the idea of the recurring column.
From the start, readers appreciated Planète bleue, idées vertes. According to Violaine Ballivy, news director at La Presse, the emphasis on solutions was refreshing in a world of environmental bad news.
“We often talk about the environment in a perspective of: we’re exposing problems, we’re exposing dangers, menaces to the environment,” she says. “Then, the reader may feel a bit more helpless when we explain it that way. Here, we show that yes, there are actions that can be taken and have positive effects.”
Slow Journalism
Readers’ interest in solutions journalism is clear, according to the artisans behind this rubric: the challenge is to find time to write these deep-dive articles, and to do it well.
From the get-go, Léveillé established three criteria for the rubric’s topics. Firstly, journalists had to be out in the field. “We wanted photos, we wanted it to be concrete, illustrated,” he says.
Then, the topics had to be relatable to the average reader. “We weren’t reporting, say, on a multinational that invented a green process to help factories pollute less… No, because your regular person doesn’t have a factory at home, in their garage.”
Lastly, articles had to include an expert voice, to avoid greenwashing, the practice of using green values as a marketing strategy without taking concrete or sufficient actions to back them up. Quickly, companies started approaching Léveillé to ask him to cover their initiatives. “It added to the workload, to have to do a little primary search(...), to make sure that it really was a ‘green idea,’ not a green-brown idea, or not green at all.” Generally, explains Léveillé, the topics of the rubric are found by reporters’ research, rather than companies’ solicitation.
Sara Champagne, reporter at La Presse and regular contributor to the rubric, appreciates the possibility to really dive into the topics she covers. “Planète bleue, idées vertes, you can’t write it in two hours on the corner of your desk. Depending on the topics, it can take a few days, sometimes even two weeks,” she says. “We have a bit more time to think. That’s a luxury for journalists.”
She has noticed a growing interest in environmental reporting. “It’s really amazing to see the extent to which environmental issues became at the center of our priorities,” she says. “When I started at La Presse, environmental articles were on page 25 in a little corner.”
To her, it’s important not to ignore the critical situation we’re in when it comes to climate change, while still giving visibility to all these efforts, small and large, that are making a difference.
Jean-Thomas Léveillé points out that the rubric isn’t a “remedy” to negative journalism: after all, he says, the role of journalism is to expose problems that need to be solved. The goal of Planète bleue, idées vertes isn’t to put on rose-tinted glasses. “It’s just to show that, in the face of all the problems we’re exposing, there are also solutions being developed.”
In the news in January...
New Year, New Focus
Environnement et climat : voici ce qui fera débat au Parlement en 2024
After a year of disasters, where should Ottawa’s climate policy go in 2024?
Catching up on Northvolt in Quebec
Longform: TC Energy asks the federal government to let them continue polluting
Indigenous Perspective
Climate Justice
Où se jouent les iniquités environnementales dans nos villes ?
These are the ways rural Canadians are more vulnerable to climate change
You’ve Been Warned
Climate change could be avenue for adversaries to harm Canada: CSIS
La prochaine synthèse du GIEC, à la fin de 2029, mettra l’accent sur l’adaptation
The Climate and the Media in Canada newsletter is brought to you by Concordia Journalism assistant professor Amélie Daoust-Boisvert and her team. It’s made possible because of support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Questions, feedback? Reach out at cmrconcordia@gmail.com
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This month, the newsletter is signed by Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman, Brianna Losinger-Ross and Mélanie Lussier, who coordinated the publication. Editor-in-chief and editor Amélie Daoust-Boisvert.