Data Journalism, Deep Features, and the Geography of Climate Crisis in a Multiracial City: A Case Study of the Local’s ”Toronto’s Climate Right Now” Issue Cover Image

Data Journalism, Deep Features, and the Geography of Climate Crisis in a Multiracial City: A Case Study of the Local’s ”Toronto’s Climate Right Now” Issue
Data Journalism, Deep Features, and the Geography of Climate Crisis in a Multiracial City: A Case Study of the Local’s ”Toronto’s Climate Right Now” Issue

Author(s): Shirley Roburn
Subject(s): Media studies, Environmental Geography, Communication studies, Rural and urban sociology
Published by: Slovensko sociološko društvo (in FDV)
Keywords: climate change; journalism start-ups; digital journalism; community journalism; health equity; hyperlocal journalism; climate journalism; climate justice;

Summary/Abstract: The paper reports on the case of Toronto’s ”Climate Right Now” issue of The Local, a digital news magazine start-up with a health justice focus on urban Toronto. Through a close reading of the issue, which builds on a previous multimodal study of The Local, it is concluded that The Local’s structural commitments to race and equity, which resulted in reporting by and for underserved racialised communities, contributed to a qualitative different kind of climate journalism. This approach centred solutions journalism and visual storytelling featuring community members, and took an inclusive, holistic perspective on newsworthiness of what constituted Toronto’s climate. The study contributes to research on climate change journalism by new journalism start-ups as little of such research focuses on climate justice in an urban context in the global north.

  • Issue Year: 42/2026
  • Issue No: 110
  • Page Range: 111-137
  • Page Count: 27
  • Language: English
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