VIDEO

Watch: How could Pittsburgh media better cover the city’s Black communities? Here are some thoughts from residents.

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On Feb. 12, more than 100 people gathered at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center for a conversation on media coverage of Pittsburgh’s Black communities. The event, hosted by the Pittsburgh City Paper and PublicSource with support from the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation and California University of Pennsylvania, featured two discussions in which panelists detailed their experiences working in the city’s media landscape and covered concerns ranging from media bias to representation in newsrooms.

PFAS CONTAMINATION
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‘Everybody is exposed to PFAS.’ To what extent and how? A video recapping the PFAS community education event

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To further educate local residents and environmental groups about the threat of PFAS, PublicSource and Environmental Health News hosted a special forum on Sept. 12 at the Marriott Hotel near the Pittsburgh International Airport. The military bases near the airport are identified sites of PFAS contamination, and the airport is a potential source of contamination as well, according to reports from former firefighters, airport records, expert scientists and a military study. The panel included: Carla Ng, a PFAS researcher at the University of Pittsburgh; Lisa Daniels, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's director of the Bureau of Safe Drinking Water; Melanie Benesh, the legislative attorney for the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit that has done extensive PFAS research; Hope Grosse and Joanne Stanton, residents in Eastern Pennsylvania who have lived near PFAS contamination (via video chat); and Caitlin Berretta, the manager of business development at Evoqua, a company headquartered in Pittsburgh that does PFAS remediation. Editor's note: This event was part of an ongoing collaboration between Environmental Health News and PublicSource on PFAS contamination in Pennsylvania and was funded in part through the Bridge Pittsburgh Media Partnership.

COVERING CLIMATE NOW

Watch: Pittsburgh-area officials, environmentalists shared concerns and calls to action at climate change town hall

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This is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. Read PublicSource's stories here. On Aug. 14, 2019, U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle hosted a climate change forum at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum. About 200 people attended to discuss how climate change stands to affect the Pittsburgh region and what can be done to avoid the most severe effects.

DEVELOP PGH

The Only Constant Thing, Episode 1: A daughter of Penn Plaza

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Crystal Jennings’s life was thrust into Pittsburgh’s affordable housing saga in July 2015. Her father, Jerome, was one of more than 200 Penn Plaza residents forced to move from the apartment complex. At the time, her father was in failing health. He died of liver cancer in May 2018, a little more than a year after being displaced. However, Crystal’s ties to the Penn Plaza community would only grow stronger over time. She is a core organizer for Penn Plaza Support and Action and helps take care of former residents as if they’re family.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Watch: What does it mean to be an ‘ally?’

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In Pittsburgh, we hear a lot of talk about making Pittsburgh a city for all. And, residents are responding to the city’s changing identity and demographics in many ways — some with love and some with hate.

For an intimate look at how allyship is defined and perceived in our region, we spoke with four Pittsburghers who are thinking about allyship as it pertains to personal and professional relationships.