Date of Award

2012

Advisor(s)

Edward Van Buren

Abstract

The process of raising environmental awareness and connecting citizens to their environment by use of communications and the media has developed in recent years. More specifically, using media such as radio to paint a picture or image through words of the environmental problems we face on a daily basis has grown increasingly popular. One of the rewarding aspects of working in radio as a reporter is being able to successfully act as the listener’s eyes using a single, yet powerful tool, creative speech. If successful, the radio feature story written over the course of my internship should make the listener feel as though they are at the scene standing beside me, experiencing the story first hand. Having spent the semester as WFUV Radio’s Environmental News Reporter, I was able to pay special attention to water related issues involving New York’s Hudson River, particularly New York Harbor. After two weeks of researching, I stumbled upon an interesting statement one NYC environmental organization’s website. Hudson River Park is a park along the Hudson River that extends from 59th street down to Battery Park in Manhattan. Their main mission is centered on reconnecting New Yorkers with the waterfront they so abruptly lost site of throughout the decades. Under their website’s habitat section, they mention the comeback of a diving bird known as the “Double Crested Cormorant” over the last few years, after having nearly vanished in the 1970’s. After weeks of researching and interviewing numerous individuals (i.e. New York Audubon Society, environmental scientists specializing in the diving bird, environmental school teachers, bird watchers, and a woman who spent half her life living on a boat on the Hudson), the story began to unravel before me. I uncovered interesting information about this bird, as well as the Hudson River in relation to the effects of water pollution. Through the course of my thesis report, I will describe my experience in putting together a long-form super spot piece for the radio. I argue the effectiveness and importance of linking the environment with communications and media to create strong public awareness. My radio piece about the Double Crested Cormorant’s comeback in New York Harbor serves as a case study proving just that.

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