A Smarter, Snappier Stream

Reporter Codi Kozacek gives a tour of Circle of Blue’s redesigned water news digest.

If you subscribe to The Stream, Circle of Blue’s daily digest of global water news, you probably noticed a few changes when it arrived in your inbox starting October 30 and then a few more yesterday. (If you don’t subscribe already, you should — and you can do it right now by clicking here.)

The Stream is a compilation of the top news stories we see every day that are drawn from our Twitter feed and the articles we come across as we research our own water stories. We started The Stream in 2011 as a way to bridge the gap for those readers who are somewhere in the middle between wanting big, long, investigative stories and short, quick, manageable tweets. At an average of about 350 words, The Stream takes less time to read than to go get a refill of your coffee.

We know our readers appreciate it as a resource to keep abreast of important trends, and we use it ourselves to stay informed. That being said, we thought it could use a facelift to provide the same quality news in a more dynamic, engaging format. We broke the old Stream into categories based on topic and location: Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa, etc. But the new and improved Stream goes like this:

The Global Rundown

If you have just 20 seconds to find out what’s going on in the water world each morning, this section was designed for you. It gives a brief synopsis of the stories you’ll find in the rest of The Stream, with countries and cities highlighted to show where the news is happening. Brief and to the point.

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It seems like a no-brainer: stories are often told best through the people who live them. In this section, we let the sources do the talking. Something insightful, poignant, or startling.

By The Numbers

This section seeks to make stories easily digestible by presenting the statistics that sum up the big ideas. For those who want their facts straight-up, no frills.

Science, Studies, And Reports

Here you’ll see the latest findings from think-tanks, governments, scientists and nonprofits. Their 300-page reports will be analyzed, condensed, and delivered in easy-to-understand terms.

On The Radar

Look for upcoming events, developing stories, and emerging trends in this section. Must-read stories that defy categorization live here, too.

Over the last month, we hope you’ve found the new Stream simple, easy to read, and, most importantly, useful. For those of you who have been with us since the beginning, we hope you like the changes. For those of you who are just finding us now, sign up for our newsletter and see what you think.

Please let us know — Is there a new section you would like to see? Do you want more of one section and less of another? Do you miss anything about the old Stream format? Contact Codi Yeager

–Codi Kozacek, reporter

Codi Kozacek

A news correspondent for Circle of Blue based out of Hawaii. She writes The Stream, Circle of Blue’s daily digest of international water news trends. Her interests include food security, ecology and the Great Lakes.
Contact Codi Kozacek