Michigan Radio will make changes to its environmental coverage beginning in October.
The Environment Report, which has explored the relationship between the natural world and the everyday lives of people in Michigan for nearly twenty years, will no longer air at fixed times on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and afternoons.
Instead, reports will now air periodically during Michigan Radio's morning and afternoon news magazines, Morning Edition (M-F, 5-9am) and All Things Considered (M-F, 4-6:30pm), during Stateside (M-F, 3-4pm and 10-11pm), and through digital-first reports on Michigan Radio’s website. The change allows the station to expand environmental coverage and be more responsive to breaking environmental stories.
Michigan Radio’s Lester Graham, who hosts the Friday edition of Stateside, will assume the duties of lead reporter for The Environment Report, a role he has held previously. Graham joined Michigan Radio in 1998 as Senior Editor of the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, an environmental news service for public radio stations across the midwest, which was the precursor to The Environment Report.
Joining Graham in covering environmental stories for the station will be Lindsey Smith, Bryce Huffman and Steve Carmody. Current Environment Report host Rebecca Williams will transition to new duties as Senior Editor in Michigan Radio's newsroom, while continuing to cover environment stories on an intermittent basis.
"Changing the way we air The Environment Report will allow Michigan Radio to produce more investigative stories about the issues our listeners consistently tell us they want to know more about, like PFAS, water withdrawals, Enbridge Line 5, the impacts of climate change, and the Flint water crisis,” said Zoe Clark, Michigan Radio Program Director. “This will also give us more flexibility to respond to breaking environmental news as it happens, and add the depth and knowledge from an unparalleled team of reporters who have experience covering environmental stories in Michigan."
Listeners can tune in for this expanded environmental coverage the week of October 1st when The Environment Report will feature an in-depth series looking at the PFAS crisis in Michigan.
