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Show 187 All these political elements influenced the maturation of environmental journalism. As the politics of the parks intensified, boosterism faded from the news pages and journalists focused on the maneuvering of elected officials, their supporters, and opponents. One issue that illustrated this evolution was the reaction to presidential authority to unilaterally create national monuments. The earlier monuments created under this presidential power barely merited mention, while later executive orders revealed political sentiments that were harbingers of the Sagebrush Rebellion. The way journalists covered these later proclamations showed a departure from boosterism and an increased focus on the news value of conflict. Environmental Journalism and Utah's National Parks: Economics and Ecology Although environmental journalism was not born in 1he 1960s and '70s, it did experience a metamorphosis during those decades. Early in Utah's national park history journalists had reported stories that took place on an environmental stage but did little to examine their implications for the natural world. Journalism associated with later parks gave, or at least attempted to give, the environment a voice, treating it as more of a legitimate player in the story by citing its advocates. There arc signs in the latter dates that some journalists began asking not just what the impact of the national parks would be on humanity, but what the impact would be on the environment. This aspect of the coverage addresses the third research question, which asked: What insights do the findings give into the evolution of environmental journalism? Early journalism associated with Utah's national parks qualified as environmental journalism because of the subject, not necessarily how well it was covered. Although |
