The Energy News Network’s (ENN) Detroit Energy and Environment Reporting Fellowship helps support critical journalism on climate change and clean energy in under-resourced communities in southeast Michigan. This program, a partnership between ENN, Planet Detroit and the Detroit Equity Action Lab, is now entering its second year, and we are excited to welcome Eleanore Catolico as our 2022 fellow.
Having grown up in the suburbs of Detroit, Eleanore attended college in Chicago, graduating in 2013 with a creative writing degree. Eleanore recounts her post-graduation days as a bit uncertain. Although she was unsure of what her exact next steps would be, she had always wanted to be some type of writer.
Driven by her desire to write, Eleanore connected with a handful of local newspapers and heard back from one. “It was a biweekly, bilingual newspaper in Chicago called The Gate. I interned there for the summer, and it honestly changed my life. I had never realized up until that point that there were so many people whose stories weren’t being reflected in local journalism.”
It’s important to shine a light on inequities in these communities which have persisted for decades. My job as a journalist is to bring that into the broader public discourse and debate.
Eleanore Catolico
Since then, Eleanore’s reported on a wide range of subjects including education, criminal justice, mental health, housing, and small businesses for local and national publications.
She’s diligent about ensuring that the diverse perspectives and experiences of communities of color are reflected in her coverage.
Eleanore says that passion to accurately and equitably represent community perspectives is what drew her to the Detroit Energy and Environment Reporting Fellowship. The fellowship is an additional opportunity to continue building a portfolio of community- and solutions-oriented work that trains attention on the residents and neighborhoods being reported on.
“It has an intentional focus on understanding how environmental hazards directly impact communities of color in Detroit,” she states, adding, “It’s important to shine a light on inequities in these communities which have persisted for decades. My job as a journalist is to bring that into the broader public discourse and debate.”
Want to follow along with Eleanore’s reporting? You can stay up to date with her stories as well as ENN’s ongoing coverage of equity issues in energy and climate by subscribing to ENN’s free daily newsletters and original reporting, covering the U.S. as well as the Midwest, Southeast, Northeast, and Western regions. You can also become a donor to support ENN’s vital reporting on regional energy issues that helps both inform and watchdog important public policy discussions in the clean energy transition.