Jan. 10, 2023 – Coinciding with CBS Stations’ continuing in-depth coverage of the severe weather impacting California and other areas of the country, the group is launching a news franchise, ON THE DOT WITH DAVID SCHECHTER, focused on the causes and impacts of climate change.
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The in-depth stories come from CBS Stations national environmental correspondent David Schechter and senior photojournalist/producer Chance Horner, and a team of producers and data journalists from the CBS Local News Innovation Lab, which experiments with next-generation, data-driven storytelling.
“The objective of ON THE DOT WITH DAVID SCHECHTER is to make climate change more relevant and personal to viewers,” said Chad Cross, vice president of content development at CBS Stations. “We’ll make the science and data compelling and easier to understand.”
Featuring cinematic videography, each longform story is uniquely produced to take the audience on a journey of discovery with Schechter as their guide. He virtually transports viewers to places where scientists are measuring and documenting climate change.
“Most people know something about climate change, but may not fully get it,” said Schechter. “We want to provide the facts and show the science to grow our viewers’ knowledge and understanding. I think of it as giving them ‘climate confidence,’ and that’s the real value of these stories.”
The franchise is beginning with reporting about the fundamentals of climate change. The first special report, “Carbon Dioxide: The Invisible Problem,” will appear in local newscasts and streams of CBS Stations this week. The report is available to view here. It takes viewers to the top of a Hawaiian volcano where scientists have calculated the highest levels of atmospheric carbon pollution in 4 million years.
Upcoming stories will explore topics such as the rising sea level and the increasing extremes of storms, droughts and wildfires.
“Destructiveness of extreme weather is one of the biggest stories of our time. ON THE DOT reflects the commitment of CBS Stations to talk about the causes as much as the effects of climate change,” said Adrienne Roark, president of CBS Stations.
“Earth is so massive that many of us don’t feel a real connection to our planet or understand how we’re affecting it,” Cross added. “These stories go straight to the data and the experts who gather it, letting viewers see for themselves what’s happening to our atmosphere, oceans and more.”
The franchise name, ON THE DOT, is inspired by the idea that, seen from the vastness of space, we all live together on a tiny, blue dot.
“It’s a planet with finite resources and we must use them wisely or risk losing them – a very real threat,” said Schechter. “The driving idea behind the name is that we’re all on this dot together.”
Schechter and Horner won a 2021 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton for reporting about climate change.
Their franchise will also include environmental investigative stories, collaborations with local journalists across CBS Stations and content for the company’s streaming platforms.
(from a release)
