To the editor:

Sept. 21, along with at least 70 other residents of Kansas, Missouri and the surrounding states, I participated in the People’s Climate March in New York City. Despite its overwhelming success in marshaling over 400,000 marchers, media coverage of the demonstration was lackluster. Many mainstream outlets only briefly mentioned the march while others, including the Journal-World, had no coverage whatsoever.

Given the size and scale of both the march and the climate issue, the lack of media coverage seems to be a gross oversight. Marchers came from all 50 states and included celebrities, politicians, and even U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. We united in New York to show our concern over the international community’s inaction on climate change.

Along with demonstrators in 160 other countries around the world, we spoke loudly and clearly: We will not sit idly by and let the only planet we have fall to ruins. We refuse to fiddle while Rome burns. We demand that our politicians and business leaders take meaningful action before it is too late.

Such a loud public outcry should reverberate in people’s ears, and the press is essential to that task. Four hundred thousand citizens assembling freely is what democracy looks like. It requires everyone’s participation to make it work.