Stories
Circle of Blue is based in classic journalism and scholarship. Successful water action begins with a comprehensive and honest assessment of humanity’s current relationship with water.
Journalism has a unique role in society: to report, without fear or favor, providing objective awareness for making effective decisions. Journalism works ways that interest and involve the public, through stories, images and information that make large, subtle or complex issues immediate, personal and relevant. If journalism’s role is to raise awareness of issues by enriching the mind and touching the heart, scholarship is the underpinning of that process. Scholarship is the essential element for a fair and efficient understanding of the world's water situation.
Circle of Blue’s epicenter is a network of 150 stories, reported from around the world and selected to cover the range of ways in which water defines, challenges and enables us. Our goal is to represent the diversity of our connections with water as well as our common denominators.
These core stories span cultures, countries and demographics. They are personal accounts of real people whose lives serve as metaphors for understanding the massive issues of water today. Assignments are chosen for their journalistic and visual value, and the stunning imagery that frames these human lives ranges from gorgeous treasures of blue water to the cracked brown struggle of drought. Story ideas come from many directions: the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, researchers, journalists, educators and the public at large.
After assignment editors determine the network of coverage, teams of the world’s finest documentarians spend a week or more in these locations, using photography, videography, text and electronic communication to demonstrate the impact of water on humans and humans on water.
Circle of Blue’s pilot story, “Tehuacán: Divining Destiny,” premiered in Mexico City during the recent World Water Forum. We invite you to click the links below to experience life in the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico, a legendary land of water now parching beneath the feet of its people.
