I’m Darren Samuelsohn, and this is love, journalism.
The love, journalism Show dedicates some time to a media brand that has led the way for decades covering energy and the environment.
A big change is happening in the world of energy and environmental news — and you probably won’t know it.
One of the most prolific news organizations on the planet is transforming into something else here in August, and with it, an era ends and a new one begins.
I’m referring to E&E News, aka Environment & Energy Publishing LLC, and its family of publications: E&E Daily, Greenwire, E&ENews PM, ClimateWire and EnergyWire.
If you know them, then you know them. If you don’t, you can rest assured their reporters were often the ones getting first and deep into the weeds on the who, what, where, when, why, and how questions central to everything that makes the planet and its inhabitants tick
POLITICO bought the company several years ago and now has plans to fold it into its own energy and environmental reporting — a 24/7 juggernaut that long ago helped turn politics and policy journalism on its head is ending some familiar name brands and starting fresh.
This is one show in a bit of a series: Volts’ David Roberts on E&E’s demise, a tribute to Biruté Galdikas and “The Fish.” All center around this place I stumbled upton that became my family for the first quarter of the twenty-first century.
It’s a lineup of the people who lived E&E — editors, reporters, and colleagues from across the decades:
Debra Kahn — Editorial director, Energy and Environment at Politico, and a former E&E colleague of mine.
Michael Witt — E&E News co-founder and team market owner, Frederick Flying Cows professional basketball team
Dan Berman — Assistant managing editor, CNN Politics and one of my former E&E Daily editors
David Leavitt — Senior director of social media at Early Warning, (technically) a co-owner of the Green Bay Packers; and a former Greenwire editor
Mary O’Driscoll — President of Northern Arizona University Alumni Association, former media relations director at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and former E&E News nuclear reporter
Suzanne Struglinski — Former E&E News reporter
Ben Geman — Energy reporter and newsletter author, Axios and former E&E News reporter
We’re talking about people who’ve been working in journalism with experiences spanning the Reagan to Trump administrations. One of them even got inducted into something we’re calling the “Doctors of love, journalism.” You’ll have to tune in to see what that means.
Over the next two-plus hours, you’re going to hear from some of the people behind this news organization — one that often worked in obscurity beyond the DC beltway, with a team of media pros driven to excellence, operating atop their business while being rewarded well for their service.
It was a great place to work. Still is. And I know it well, because I got my Washington start at E&E News, where I spent a decade before being poached by... Politico. And yes — there’s a bingo card, if you want to play along or make your own at home (and share on social or directly with me).
