Sam Evans-Brown’s reporting on the environment is distinguished in its detail, multi-media sensibility, and audience-centric enthusiasm. While Sam has spent a lot of time this year covering topics such as controversial energy proposals in our state including a three-part series on the Canadian hydro-power project known as ‘Northern Pass,’ this ONA entry contains five singular pieces which embody his digital-first thinking and keen awareness of public radio’s core journalistic values.
Sam is a newsroom leader in his use of video and infographics to illustrate his journalism. In his story on the journey of Ospreys, he created a Google animation using data procured from the researchers, and then captured the video and mixed it with a radio-quality voiceover. For his story on wolf-dogs, he created an embedded video sidebar to flesh out the part of his reporting that didn’t make it into the radio edit. His data-rich story on new carbon rules set by the EPA received notice from several national outlets, including Vox Environment Reporter Blad Plumer. Finally, the explainer video entry, “Sam Explains the Grid,” was a proof of concept for videos that our reporters are now planning to produce regularly.
