Something’s in the water: California’s Central Valley and the poison in the well

Abstract

Like the water crisis that plagued Flint, Michigan, Earlimart – California’s crisis of poisoned water – is also a study in environmental racism. Remarkable to Earlimart is the role of citizen journalists in early crisis reporting, as they posted community impact updates on Facebook in real-time, outpacing public agency communication. As media professors in California’s Central Valley, we explore the racial and economic marginalization that emerged from the Earlimart crisis, with specific focus on low-income rural immigrant communities whose citizens had limited remediation. Our findings reinforce scholarship regarding the role of social media in relaying at-your-fingertips information to inform and mobilize the public.