My panelists agreed that it should be, but the reality was that reporters weren't typically lauded for telling good-news corporate stories. Their reward system was based on slaying dragons -- that is, bringing big, powerful entities to their knees.

Things have changed somewhat since then -- stories of proactive corporate environmental initiatives are now regular media fare -- but as I've noted earlier this year, mainstream business writers still seem ill-informed and overly cynical about company efforts to be greener. Like the preponderance of their readers, editors and reporters seem to start with the assumption that most environmental activities undertaken by companies, especially large companies, are done primarily for P.R. reasons. True, healthy skepticism is the currency of a good journalist, but undying cynicism is more the norm when it comes to environmental business reporting.

The recent spate of downsizings of writers, editors, and producers covering environmental issues will only exacerbate this, relegating green business coverage to reporters with less knowledge, context, and historical perspective on the transformation taking place in business. I hear from such reporters every week: general-assignment reporters from newspapers and broadcast stations around the U.S., niche trade magazines, and others seeking comment or context on a story they're covering. I can tell you unequivocally that the nature of their questions reveals a high degree of ignorance. I'm happy to bring them up to speed, but it's a slog.

The timing of the recent media layoffs is all the more troublesome given everything that's about to happen: a new administration and Congress with a big appetite for environmental regulation, green jobs, renewable energy, and carbon management -- with the potential of countless billions of dollars, and millions more in lobbying, devoted to such efforts. The automotive industry -- bailout or not -- is undergoing a revolution, a phase-out of the hundred-year-old gas-powered internal combustion engine in favor of electricity-powered ones -- creating the need for a new, smarter energy grid that will have vast ripple effects throughout the economy. Wal-Mart and other large players are driving their suppliers harder than ever before to reduce packaging, improve energy efficiency, and eliminate toxic ingredients in their products. The construction industry is undergoing a green revolution. Food growers and producers are seeing the beginning of an antiglobalization backlash, and a relocalization of some farming and food processing.

It goes on from there.

Who will be there to cover it all? Who will bring the deep knowledge and big-picture perspective necessary to create informed stories, not just sound-bite "content." Will the less-experienced reporters and editors be overly enthusiastic or hopelessly cynical?

Yes, of course, there are niche publications covering green business (including, of course, GreenBiz.com and its constellation of sites, of which I am executive editor). And there remain several strong (for now) environmental reporting teams at the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Fast Company, and a handful of other mainstream media. But even on their best days, their combined reach includes only a small fraction of the audience -- business people, activists, regulators, policymakers, investors, business students, and others -- that need to understand the trends and developments in the greening of mainstream business.

As we enter a new year, a new political era, and, arguably, a new environmental ethic, we'll need a more informed society than ever before. We'll see how it goes.