ABSTRACT This study examines local news reporting about the Flint water crisis. The analysis is based on in-depth interviews with local reporters to explore journalistic practices and perceptions of the crisis. The study utilised a framework grounded in concepts from community journalism and crisis reporting, as well as environmental justice and racism scholarship. The qualitative thematic analysis centres around four themes: coverage practices and professionalism, resources and challenges, connections to place, and environmental justice and racism. The results reveal that the crisis served as a catalyst for some news organisations to make substantial investments in their newsrooms; but this was not the case for small organisations that depend mostly on grant-funding. Local reporters generally claimed that despite their attachment to the Flint community, they maintained their normal journalistic standards. However, some reporters struggled to separate their personal experiences from their professional practices, evidence consistent with prior studies on crisis reporting. Reporters demonstrated empathy towards victims impacted by the water crisis, and this heightened their distrust towards official sources and motivated their outreach efforts. Finally, for those reporters, their ideologies were largely consistent with both historical and emerging claims on environmental justice and environmental racism, that persons of colour, minority populations, and poor neighbourhoods in cities are more likely to suffer from environmental hazards compared to white and more affluent communities. Suggestions for crisis reporting in environmental justice contexts are discussed.

中文翻译：

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弗林特水危机：当地报告、社区依恋和环境正义

摘要 本研究考察了当地关于弗林特水危机的新闻报道。该分析基于对当地记者的深入采访，以探讨新闻实践和对危机的看法。该研究使用了一个以社区新闻和危机报告以及环境正义和种族主义奖学金的概念为基础的框架。定性主题分析围绕四个主题：覆盖实践和专业精神、资源和挑战、与地方的联系以及环境正义和种族主义。结果表明，危机是一些新闻机构对其新闻编辑室进行大量投资的催化剂；但对于主要依赖赠款资助的小型组织而言，情况并非如此。当地记者普遍声称，尽管他们依恋弗林特社区，但他们仍保持着正常的新闻标准。然而，一些记者努力将他们的个人经历与他们的专业实践分开，证据与先前关于危机报道的研究一致。记者们对受水危机影响的受害者表示同情，这加剧了他们对官方消息来源的不信任，并激发了他们的外展工作。最后，对于这些记者，他们的意识形态在很大程度上与历史上和新兴的关于环境正义和环境种族主义的主张一致，即与白人相比，城市中的有色人种、少数民族和贫困社区更容易遭受环境危害。富裕的社区。