Geography in the News

Almost every news story has a geographic dimension, whether it’s merely a dateline, or a more comprehensive investigation into how geography structures local, national, and international issues. The Leventhal Center offers numerous resources for journalists and the media, including subject experts with availability for quotes or comments, research services for journalists, historic and contemporary maps that are available for reprint on permissive licenses, and technical assistance with geospatial data analysis and digital mapping.

To contact the Center with a press inquiry, email info@leventhalmap.org or call +1 617.859.2387.

Topic expertise at the Leventhal Center

Leventhal Center staff are available for comment on many topics, both on the record and for background research. Topics of expertise including the following:

• Urban and regional development in Boston and New England
• Gerrymandering and political districting
• Historical factors affecting the built environment
• The role of geography, maps, borders, and territory in international affairs
• Local history and sites of historical interest in the Boston area
• The interpretation and misinterpretation of maps and geographic information in the media
• Geographic dimensions of social factors like race and class (e.g., 20th century redlining, displacement, and gentrification)
• Participatory mapping and volunteer collection of geographic information
• Demographic and geographic statistics, including Census data

Using & Reprinting Our Maps

The Center’s collections include hundreds of thousands of maps covering many time periods, geographic areas, and themes. Many of these have been digitized and are available for digital or print republication on permissive licenses. Nearly all of our digitized objects are available at a resolution and quality suitable for printing.

For more information on the rights to using our collections in a publication, see our permissions page.

To work with a reference librarian to find a collections object that might be suitable for your project, see our research page.