Perilous Place: Personal Stories Point to Possible Solutions to Widespread Flooding in The Mississippi Delta

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and create journalistic stories highlighting the Yazoo Backwater Pumps Projects relationship to climate change while utilizing narrative storytelling techniques. Before explaining the methodology used for conducting research and interviews, the researcher describes the influence that innovations of mass communication channels have had on the way humans form groups and persuasively advocate for their positions. The researcher describes their historical perspective of mass media innovations that were vital considerations during their discovery and investigation of this politically divisive issue. The researcher more specifically focuses on the innovations that have occurred since the digital information revolution. These innovations the researcher believes have had significant impacts on the way we communicate as a society, especially over ideological and political conflicts. The researcher then details their experiences, thoughts, and methodology utilized during the research and data collection portion of the project. They also explain why certain creative decisions were made when crafting and framing the collection of narrative stories that describe the Yazoo Backwater Pumps Project’s history, conflicts, and its relationship to social media and climate change. The results of this project demonstrate the stark contrast of facts and opinions advocated for by the proponents and opponents of the project and how those positions have been affected by the rapid increase in accessibility to information and mass communication channels. It also effectively illustrates the potential risk that the climate crisis has on the Mississippi Delta and its inhabitants