Short Biography:
Bill Kovarik, Ph.D. is a Professor of Communication at Radford university in southwestern Virginia. He teaches science and environment writing, journalism, web design, media history and media law. Kovarik has also served on the faculty at Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland. His professional experience as a journalist includes reporting and editing for Jack Anderson, the Associated Press, The Charleston (S.C.) Courier, The Baltimore Sun, Time-Life Books, Business Publishers and the National Center for Appropriate Technology. He is a co-author of "The Forbidden Fuel" (1982, with Hal Bernton and Scott Sklar), "Mass Media and Environmental Conflict" (1996, with Mark Neuzil), and author of "Web Design for the Mass Media" (2001). Kovarik also serves as an academic representative on the board of directors of the Society of Environmental Journalists and is the editor of Appalachian Voice.

Stone?s Throw ? Earth Island Journal (About Mountaintop Removal mining)
http://www.earthisland.org/eijournal/new_articles.cfm?articleID=1171&journalID=93


Citizens Ask Courts to Investigate ? Appalachian Voice
http://www.appvoices.org/index.php?/site/voice_stories/new_media_strikes_a_deep_chord/issue/557


New Media Strikes a Deep Chord ? Appalachian Voice
http://www.appvoices.org/index.php?/site/voice_stories/new_media_strikes_a_deep_chord/issue/557


Blair Mountain ? Appalachian Voice
http://www.appvoices.org/index.php?/site/voice_stories/blair_mountain_new_archeological_data_heats_up_mine_wars/issue/547
Buffalo Creek ? Appalachian Voice
http://www.appvoices.org/index.php?/site/voice_stories/buffalo_creek_35_years_later_the_1972_disaster_haunts_the_coal_fields_of_we/issue/522

Historical papers

http://www.radford.edu/~wkovarik/papers/

Critical Description of Work:
Developing a positive vision of ourselves and our futures is a special responsibility for writers. This has a special urgency in our time. The fight for the environment of the Southern Appalachians is at least as significant today as the fight for Civil Rights in a previous generation. The parallels, in terms of personal suffering, extraordinary leadership and hateful opposition, are quite striking. I see the best journalism in this area following the Ralph McGill model, projecting a positive vision, defending non-violent activists, and holding hate speech to account.