We look back on the media conversation around Western water supply, safety, and access in this year’s scan of water news.
Category: Research
Archive of Water Hub blogs sharing research on water communications, including poll results, media analysis and reports.
Western water polling: what’s top of mind for voters?
Late last month, the Water Hub offered a Western water polling update for our network, sharing toplines from seven recent polls, and ideas for how this research can inform advocacy communications.
5 takeaways: Testing water infrastructure and jobs messages
New Water Hub digital campaign sheds light on the water infrastructure and jobs messages that move policymakers and “purple” voters.
The opportunity on water
In my 10+ years of work on water, I've seen a steady increase in the amount of attention this vital resource receives in the press and in politics. This is partly driven by crises like Flint and Winter Storm Uri, but we wouldn't see the current level of awareness without organizing from every corner of the country. Advocates have been pushing relentlessly [...]
Continue ReadingVoters want U.S. to invest in water
More than 9 in 10 voters (93%) believe fixing America’s outdated and unsafe drinking water systems should be a top priority for President Biden’s economic recovery plan, according to our new national poll. The American Rescue Plan, passed earlier this month, is sending billions to Tribes, cities, and states to fund critical drinking and wastewater upgrades and provide lower-income families help paying their [...]
Continue ReadingTracking water news in the West
Following up on last summer's analysis of water news in COVID times, the Water Hub team just completed a February 2021 Western water media scan to see how coverage of our issues has been impacted by recent events like the election, administration change, etc. We found that political news had indeed crowded out many water stories in the period from November to February, but that the [...]
Continue ReadingMedia outreach: ‘business as usual’ has been obliterated
Anyone else tired of hearing about the "new normal"? Yes, the pandemic has shifted a lot. But there's nothing normal about what's going on in the world ... or how things are going to look when we come out of this. Still, many things aren't likely to go back to the way things were before. Newspapers being one of them. As I [...]
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