A Feb. 6 webinar hosted by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas and The Solutions Journalism Network featured New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen and journalists Natalie Van Hoozer, Hugo Balta and Elliot Wade. Titled "Putting People First: A New Approach to Political Coverage," the event presented “The Citizens Agenda Approach to Election Coverage for Journalists,” a 10-point framework championed by Rosen.
Read MoreThe conversations had been going on for years in Newark’s higher education, government and philanthropic circles: Companies moving their operations to Newark reported difficulty finding city residents with enough education to fill job openings. So in 2012, Newark’s master plan set an ambitious goal: By 2025, a quarter of the city’s adult residents would have a college degree.
Read MoreIn self-governing Free Acres, located partly in the Union County township of Berkeley Heights and partly in the Somerset County borough of Watchung, volunteer residents organize the bonfire—and manage most other communal tasks, from budgeting to road repair.
Underpinning this shared self-governance is an unusual ownership structure rooted in the economic theories of 19th-century thinker Henry George: The residents of Free Acres own their houses, but not the land those houses stand on. That’s owned by the community as a whole, with the 85 lots rented out on renewable 99-year leases. When Free Acres folk gather for their monthly governance meeting, each leaseholder has a voice and a vote.
Read MoreWhen the Black newspaper editor and civil-rights activist T. Thomas Fortune moved to Red Bank, N.J., in the summer of 1901, his arrival was front-page news. “Mr. Fortune is one of the most noted colored men of the country,” the Red Bank Register reported.
But a century later, the elegant Red Bank home that Fortune’s family called Maple Hall stood vandalized and derelict, its brick foundation crumbling, its windows boarded up.
Read MoreSince she was a young girl, drawing murals on her bedroom walls with crayons and taking photos with her father’s Brownie camera, Jane Biron has had an aptitude and a love for art.
This love has followed her through adulthood and has shaped her career, with much of her work concentrating on the environment that surrounds her.
Read MoreEven though plastic waste is a problem without a perfect solution, individuals’ actions are meaningful. Minimizing plastic use, recycling carefully, and using purchasing power to drive corporate change are all actions that people can take every day.
Read MoreThis is the busy season for county Boards of Elections in New Jersey. “Every day becomes more hectic, culminating in E-Day,” said Robert Stead, a commissioner on the Board of Elections of in Warren County. He was referring to Election Day, which falls on November 8 this year.
Read MoreThe Summit, NJ Environmental Commission’s newly established “Tiny Forest” is an 11,000 square foot area—only a quarter of an acre—with over 500 native species of trees, bushes, and understory plants that will become a fully grown forest in 20-30 years.
Read MoreMany Newark residents are unaware that their drinking water is drawn from the New Jersey Highlands forest, or that commercial development and logging threaten its source, as reported by Ambreen Ali.
Read MoreThe Delaware River watershed provides drinking water to more than 13 million people, including 3 million in New Jersey. The Alliance for Watershed Education aims to engage a diverse public to enjoy and help protect the natural river basis.
Read MoreThe John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, just south of Philadelphia, is a member of the Alliance for Watershed Education - an organization that teaches a diverse public to enjoy and protect the Delaware River Basin.
Read MorePowerCorps Camden is a youth employment program that combines the teaching of life skills with green infrastructure training that will help the city manage stormwater overflow.
Read MoreParticipants at the recent CivicStory forum. “Ecology & Economy: Resolving Our Climate Crisis,” question a basic assumption of economics that “growth” is good. Panelist Michael Taylor, environmental economist at Seton Hall University, explains that the environmental costs of an ever-expanding marketplace have been “externalized” and overlooked, and proposes ways to correct these omissions.
Read MoreThe recent CivicStory forum on “Ecology & Economy: Resolving the Climate Crisis” looked at how the news media might help move the needle on the public’s attitude toward the changing climate, and what we can do about it.
Read MoreAt the conclusion of the recent CivicStory forum on “Ecology & Economy: Resolving the Climate Crisis”, members of the audience were asked to weigh in with their thoughts on how we might improve the gloomy outlook for the global environment.
Read MoreYounger generations are facing the unfathomable task of reversing global warming. So it’s fitting that five students were chosen as keynote speakers for this year’s conference of the Alliance of New Jersey Environmental Educators (ANJEE).
Read More
