Investigating the Environment: The Indian Point Project

Long-form investigative journalism saved the environment in the 20th century by exposing the malfeasance, carelessness, and push for profit that led to smoggy cities, burning rivers, and chemically-laden food and land. What will it save us from in the 21st century? That remains to be seen and may well be a function of the quality of long-form investigative journalism, a form of nonfiction writing imperiled in the modern age as media outlets retract and cut both research budgets and manpower. Enter The Indian Point Project. This class will focus on a single, collective journalism project about Indian Point, the hulking local nuclear power plant that stands as the focus of environmental, political, economic, and national security concern. Working together and through mediums ranging from the written word to video, students will pull out all known and hidden threads of the Indian Point story in order to put the plant—and all it represents about the future—into proper perspective. We will interview most major figures in the Indian Point debate, both in class and out in the field. Together, we will make a field trip to Indian Point. Open.