The heat is on as the New York Times closes its environment desk
The paper risks much by folding its environment desk – just at the moment when climate change has never been more pressing
Late last week, the New York Times made news – when it broke that the paper has shuttered its environment desk. The change isn’t supposed to result in any layoffs, and the managing editor for news operations, Dean Baquet, told the news site Inside Climate that it “is purely a structural matter” – they haven’t lost interest in covering environmental issues. The reporters will just be doing it from other formal desks.
The change is still disheartening, to put it mildly. Compelling, well-reported environmental stories are only becoming more important, and the Times has, without a doubt, been a leader of that coverage – especially since it launched the environment desk in 2009.