Headline Headwinds:

A Climate Journalism Forum for IJNR Alumni

Yellow Bay, Montana
October 4-7, 2026

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4

4-6 p.m. - Happy Hour at Big Sky Brewing Tap House
Overnight - Fairfield Inn & Suites

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5

6-8 a.m. - Breakfast at hotel

8 a.m. - Bus departs for Flathead Lake Biological Station

9:30 a.m. - Bus arrives, fellows get settled into cabins

10:30 - 11 a.m. Welcome to Flathead Lake Biological Station

Tom Bansak - Associate Director, Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana

11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Welcome to Confederated Salish and Kootenai Territory and Overview of Tribe's Climate Plan

Rich Janssen - Head of Natural Resources Department, CSKT

12 - 1 p.m. - Lunch

1 - 2:30 p.m. - Moving from a Beat to a Lens: Can Every Story Be a Climate Story?

​​Climate change is often treated as a niche science or environment topic reserved for periodic, long-form feature articles when, in reality, every beat has a climate connection. Engaging journalists across these beats in climate-adjacent stories could be the key to building public awareness of the problem and engaging them in discussions around climate decisionmaking as climate and environment desks close. This session will explore ways of making climate a lens rather than a topic, and how newsrooms are incorporating climate coverage into beats that historically would not have been thought of as climate-connected, like sports journalists writing about extreme heat and wildfire smoke during this year's World Cup.

Moderator:
Cheryl Katz - Independent Journalist

2:30 - 3 p.m. Break

3 - 4:30 p.m. What's Global Is Local: Why Community-Centered Stories are Critical for Climate Coverage

Climate coverage can't only be guided by big foundations, national outlets, or flashy, one-time initiatives. Meaningful climate coverage must also be deeply local, daily and long-term. As the news industry grapples with the loss of local news and communities see fewer and fewer stories about their lived experiences in the media, community-based reporting becomes even more important. But what does it mean to report on the community one calls home? And how can journalists from outside of these communities better tell stories about them? Or should they? This session will ask these questions to foster a discussion about connecting global issues to community impacts, looking at climate coverage through a local lens and how to better serve our audiences. 

Moderator:
Christian von Preysing-Barry - Knight Science Journalism Fellow

4:30 - 6:30 p.m. Free time; Happy Hour in staff lodge

6:30 p.m. - Dinner

Overnight - Flathead Lake Biological Station

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6

7 - 8 a.m. - Breakfast

8 - 9:30 a.m. - Making Impact: Newsrooms Are Connecting with New Audiences and Finding Novel Approaches to Telling Climate Stories

When we release a story about climate change into the world, what happens next? Too often the answer is, “We don’t really know.” And when news organizations can’t describe the impact of their climate journalism, many audiences lose interest in that coverage and many funders can’t justify an investment. Thankfully newsrooms across the country are taking new - and sometimes old -  approaches to tackling the issue of measuring impact. In this session, we’ll hear stories about engaging audiences – and spurring civic action – with radio programs and podcasts, as well as one outlet’s pay off from pivoting to daily climate news as we brainstorm new ways forward. 

Moderator:
Brett Walton - News Correspondent, Circle of Blue

9:30 - 10 a.m. - Break

10 - 11:30 a.m. - More Than Words: Social Media, Data Reporting and Innovating Visuals Bring the Heat to the Climate Beat

In an era of disengagement and mistrust, visual storytelling’s universal language and inherent on-the-ground nature helps build relationships with local communities and readers. Visuals increase a person’s willingness to read a piece of content and, increasingly, journalism is turning to digital content creation, data visualization and multimedia storytelling. These developments often challenge long-held assumptions about what “serious” journalism looks like and why, even today, visuals are often an afterthought in the editorial process. This session will explore how journalists can bring better visuals to their reporting, create platform-specific content, connect directly with audiences, and build trust without letting algorithms drive their editorial decisions.

11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. - Lunch and Breakout Discussions

BREAKOUT DISCUSSIONS
Freelance Resilience: Making It Work As an Independent Climate Journalist
Beat Reporters: How to Thrive When Your Newsroom's Climate Coverage is You
The Costs of Climate Science Denial: Telling Stories About the Impacts of Inaction

1 - 2:30 p.m. - A Skeptic's Guide to Solutions: Writing Honestly about Potential Climate Fixes

While "solutions journalism" about climate change has been around for years, it is suddenly buzzworthy in both editorial meetings and foundation boardrooms. However, much of what’s reported can be overly credulous, with new developments hailed as possible silver bullets while ecological, technical and economic barriers and downsides get less attention. Yet this kind of coverage isn’t going away. And, in fact, studies have shown that it is exactly the kind of journalism that audiences engage with and find useful. So, how should we tell stories about possible solutions without getting swept up in the hype? We’ll have a panel of reporters discuss their own experiences and explore topics both large and small as we lay out some best practices for responsible solutions reporting. 

Moderator:
Seth Borenstein - Science Writer, The Associated Press

2:30 - 4:30 p.m. - Break

2:30 - 3:30 p.m. - Water Quality Monitoring and Citizen Science Discussion/Demonstration

Janelle Groff - Research Coordinator, Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana
Callie Nelson - Intern, Monitoring Montana Waters program, FLBS, University of Montana

4:30 - 6 p.m. - Climate Models: Creative Collaborations, New Funding Streams and Other Attempts to Keep the Climate in the News

What are some creative ways to get climate stories out into the world that don't rely on failing journalism business models? Can we form some sort of collective climate journalism clearinghouse? Is there a different way to fund reporting than an over-reliance on foundation grants? Can non-profit newsrooms and their corporate counterparts find pathways to meaningful collaborations? What are promising leads within philanthropy? Or academia? Or interesting business models? In this session we’ll swing for the fences, as we hear how people are making partnerships work without having them feel burdensome and search for better futures for journalism. We may not find all the answers, but it won’t be for lack of trying!

Moderator:
Joan Meiners - Climate Reporter, The Arizona Republic

6 - 7 p.m. - Closing Remarks and Wrap Up

7 p.m. - Dinner

8:00 p.m. - Bonfire

Overnight at Flathead Lake Biological Station

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7

7 a.m. - Breakfast at Biological Station

8 a.m. - Bus departs for Missoula airport