An icon of 20th Century journalism, Walter Cronkite, once said, "The profession of journalism ought to be about telling people what they need to know - not what they want to know." That quote was never more relevant than today. This week on Sea Change Radio we speak with two reporters. First we talk about the state of independent journalism with David Kaplan, the Executive Director of the Global Investigative Journalism Network, an organization promoting cutting-edge investigative reporting. Then we hear from Tara Duggan of the San Francisco Chronicle about some reporting she has done on single-use plastic products -- how their use surged during the pandemic and whether retailers are finally reverting back to pre-pandemic practices.

Narrator 0:01  This is Sea Change Radio covering the shift to sustainability. I'm Alex Wise.

David Kaplan 0:21  We love technology. You know, tech is our friend. And we're, we're constantly looking for ways to use technology as an equalizer out there, so that our journalists around the world who don't have a lot of resources can get an edge and start documenting the lack of accountability, the looting of the environment and abuses of power, and it's working.

Narrator  0:48  An icon of 20th century journalism, Walter Cronkite once said, The profession of journalism ought to be about telling people what they need to know, not what they want to know. That quote was never more relevant than today. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with two reporters. First we talk about the state of independent journalism with David Kaplan, the executive director of the Global investigative journalism Network, an organization promoting cutting edge investigative reporting. Then we hear from Tara Duggan of the San Francisco Chronicle, about some reporting she's done on single use plastic products, how they're used surged during the pandemic, and whether retailers are finally reverting back to pre pandemic practices.

Alex Wise  1:30  I'm joined now on Sea Change Radio by David Kaplan. He's the Executive Director of the Global Investigative Journalism Network. David, welcome to Sea Change Radio.

David Kaplan 1:51  Thank you, Alex. Good to be here.

Alex Wise  1:54  So what is GIJN? Why don't you explain the mission of your organization in a nutshell, if you can,

David Kaplan 2:00  GIJN serves as the umbrella organization for the world's muckraking journalist for reporters who do watchdog journalism, who care about social accountability and go after the issues of the day in depth. It's a grand old tradition that here in the US stretches back more than 100 years and has a strong social justice component. Our core mission is to strengthen and spread quality investigative journalism around the world. And it's pretty strong in the West, though, about 20% of our work is, is US based. But the most urgent areas we work in are the global South,  that's where this kind of reporting can have the biggest impact where the stakes are the largest and in where the issues and people are most in need. So GIJN has 227 member organizations, all nonprofits in 88 countries, and we work through our members and then we work through the broader journalism community really through through anyone who uses what we call public interest, investigative tools, to work in the public interest. And it's one of these best of times, worst of times, our community is under assault from all directions from autocrats and oligarchs from, from slap harassment lawsuits and, and physical threats. At the same time,