AddThis SmartLayers

Publisher launches climate crisis fight across regional titles

More than 60 regional sister titles have joined forces to launch a campaign aimed at tackling the climate crisis.

Reach plc has produced special issues across 25 large regional print titles and 37 news regional websites today in a coordinated launch of the campaign.

All of the titles have changed their masthead to incorporate the campaign logo encouraging readers to ‘Do1Thing’ and have splashed on how the crisis has affected their region, as well as local efforts to tackle the problem.

As of 9am this morning the hashtag #Do1Thing was trending second nationally on Twitter.

do1thing

It is the first time that Reach has united all its daily print titles and news websites for a common cause, and has seen every editor write a personal piece about which of the 50 suggested green changes they will be making to help save the planet.

Reach says the unified effort will reach 155m monthly users online and 1m newspaper readers across the UK.

The aim of the campaign is to provide readers with local stories, expert advice and practical tips to help the environment.

Each editor will be writing a personal piece about which of the 50 suggested green changes they will be making to help save the planet – for instance driving less, using a bamboo toothbrush instead of plastic, eating less meat or switching off appliances left on standby.

Examples of local stories aimed at tackling the climate crisis include the Paisley Daily Express highlighting a scheme to reduce emissions from council houses by 90pc using solar panels, Bristol businesses selling bicycles made of bamboo, and the Hull Daily Mail examining the devastating sea level projection that shows the East Coast port under water in years to come.

The Express dedicated 15 pages of coverage – its entire news schedule – to the campaign, including a guest column from a Green MSP.

Editor Gavin McInally told HTFP:  “The work my reporters, subs and our photographer put in to generate so much fresh, green copy was phenomenal.”

Digital tools have also been developed by Reach’s data journalism team for the campaign, including a carbon footprint calculator to track their personal impact on the planet and compare it to average figures.

Other widgets are designed to show readers their closest electric car charging point and the Climate Future tool allows people to see what their area will look like by the time their child has grown up.

And the company will be sending out a #Do1Thing newsletter to readers who choose to subscribe in order to receive the latest news about climate change and the environment.

Toby Chapman, assistant editorial director for regionals at Reach, said: “Our editors agree that we have a responsibility to inform our readers and encourage them to address the climate crisis in their own way.

“As the leading regional publisher, we are in a strong position to engage and energise our readers to make positive changes to help the environment.”

One comment

You can follow all replies to this entry through the comments feed.
  • January 22, 2020 at 11:27 pm
    Permalink

    More urgently, what about the UK’s emaciated-local-papers crisis/emergency? Reach could easily resolve this by reinstating proper staff and resources.

    Report this comment

    Like this comment(2)