Introduction to Covering the Green Economy: Las Vegas, Nov. 4

From innovative products to entire new businesses dedicated to environmental initiatives to the billions in government money earmarked for renewable energy, there’s a mega-cash flow behind the push for a better world.

This workshop, hosted in conjunction with the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, will introduce journalists to the business behind the green economy. The training will be held in Las Vegas on Nov. 4 from 1-4 p.m. The fee is $25, and you must register on the Association of Alternative Newsmedia’s website.

The Reynolds Center workshop kicks off the association’s Alternative Journalism Writers Workshop Nov. 4-5. Here’s information on the topics and fees for the rest of the association’s conference for writers, photographers and designers.

This session will give participants a solid overview of hot trends in sustainability and also provide tangible methods for tracking the business dealings and money behind sustainability efforts. Veteran journalists and sustainability experts will also help participants learn how to spot greenwashing and identify topics relevant to their coverage areas.

AGENDA – Introduction to Covering the Green Economy

1-1:15: Introduction and welcome

1:15-2:45 p.m.: From spotting greenwashing to finding local trend stories: An insider’s guide to covering the green economy – George Basile

2:45-4 p.m.: Tracking the money trail behind the sustainability movement – Russ Choma

YOUR INSTRUCTORS

George Basile

George Basile is a senior sustainability scientist at the Global Institute of Sustainability and an associate professor at Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability, the first of its kind in the nation. He leads a multi-disciplinary team of professionals at ASU’s Decision Theater, which is focused on sustainability and public policy and is an internationally recognized creative thinker and practitioner in the field of sustainability. Basile started out on a traditional academic career path, with a B.S. in Physics from University of California-Irvine followed by a Ph.D. in Biophysics from University of California-Berkeley and a post-doc at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. He has held teaching positions at Berkeley and Stanford, and helped develop Green MBA programs in the United States and Sweden. He serves on the boards of nonprofit organizations and new ventures, and advises Fortune 500 clients on sustainable business practices and integrated operational and marketing strategies. He served as the R&D head of The Natural Step, an accelerator of global sustainability, and co-founded Thrive Unlimited.

Russ Choma

Russ Choma is a Washington-based investigative reporter who focuses on government transparency and accountability. He has written about green energy for a number of outlets including Investigative Reporting Workshop and EnergyBiz Magazine. His series, “Blown Away: Tracking stimulus grants for renewable energy” found that more than 80 percent of the first $1 billion in grants to wind-energy companies went to foreign firms, and many renewable energy projects that received stimulus cash were built well before President Obama was even inaugurated. Choma is the investigative reporting fellow for Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Those who successfully complete three regional workshops or online seminars presented by the Reynolds Center are eligible to receive a “Circle of Achievement” certificate.

This seminar is sponsored by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. If you have any questions about the workshop or the center, please email Executive Director Linda Austin or call 602-496-9187.