Navigating the surge in local coverage, investigative reporting, and public scrutiny around AI infrastructure
By Adam Waitkunas
Just a few years ago, data centers rarely appeared in local headlines. Coverage of the industry was largely confined to trade publications, the occasional regional business journal, and national business outlets reporting on major announcements from large technology companies. Most communities learned about projects only after construction began, and the facilities themselves attracted little public attention.
Today that dynamic has changed.
Driven by the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure, data centers are increasingly becoming local news stories — tied to questions about energy demand, water use, land development, and economic policy.
In many communities, the first time residents hear about a proposed data center is not from a developer presentation — it’s from a headline.
That shift is fundamentally changing the role of data center community relations, data center community engagement, and data center public relations.
Local Coverage Is Driving the Conversation
In the more than two years since Milldam launched the Zoning In newsletter tracking data center regulation and community sentiment, we’ve seen a clear shift: local media coverage has surged.
Much of that coverage is driven by resident protests, zoning debates, and questions about power demand and water use — issues that naturally pull the story into local newsrooms.
Many of these stories follow a familiar pattern.
A data center project appears on a zoning agenda. Residents begin asking questions about energy use, generators, or cooling systems. A local reporter begins covering the issue, and the debate quickly expands beyond the planning board into the broader public conversation.
In that environment, data centers are often framed less as digital infrastructure and more as large industrial developments, and the media coverage reflects that perspective.
Investigative Reporting Is Expanding
At the same time, data centers are drawing increased attention from investigative journalists.
Reporters are filing public records requests for generator permits, water allocations, and utility filings in order to better understand the impacts of large-scale facilities. In some cases, journalists have submitted hundreds of records requests to track development patterns and energy use across multiple states.
New reporting tools are also helping visualize the scale of digital infrastructure — from infrastructure mapping to drone footage used to document energy facilities supporting AI clusters.
The result is that data centers are no longer covered only by technology reporters. Stories now come from journalists covering climate, energy, land use, and local politics.
Developers entering new markets should expect a higher level of scrutiny than the industry historically experienced.
The Technology Translation Gap
One challenge in this evolving media environment is that most reporters covering these projects are not infrastructure specialists.
They are local government reporters, environmental journalists, or investigative reporters covering development issues.
Terms that are routine within the industry — such as closed-loop cooling systems, heat rejection technologies, or power density — may mean little to someone writing a story for a general audience.
If those technologies are not explained clearly, reporters often default to the most visible concerns: electricity demand, water use, and environmental impact.
Effective data center public relations increasingly requires translating complex infrastructure into language that ordinary readers can understand.
That means explaining technologies through practical comparisons and context — how cooling systems work, how energy infrastructure supports reliability, and how resource use compares to other types of development.
The goal is not to oversimplify the technology. It is to make it understandable.
Why Global Policy Messaging Often Misses the Audience
Another mistake developers sometimes make when engaging local media is relying on messaging designed for investor conferences or international policy discussions.
References to global climate frameworks or international sustainability agreements may resonate in boardrooms or financial markets.
But that language rarely connects with reporters covering a local zoning hearing.
Community reporters — and the residents reading their stories — tend to ask more direct questions:
How much water will the facility use?
Will it affect our power grid?
What does the project mean for the local economy?
How will it affect nearby neighborhoods?
Those questions require clear, localized answers.
Messaging built around abstract policy language often feels disconnected from the concerns driving community coverage.
Why Local Voices Matter
Another factor shaping media narratives is who reporters choose to quote.
Local journalists often seek perspectives from residents, business leaders, educators, and civic organizations when covering development projects. Those voices frequently resonate more strongly with readers than corporate statements alone.
This is where data center community engagement becomes closely connected to media strategy.
Developers who build relationships with local stakeholders often have credible voices who can speak to the economic and community benefits of digital infrastructure.
Those perspectives can help provide balance and context to media coverage.
Media Strategy Is Now Part of Community Relations
As digital infrastructure expands, the public conversation around data centers is expanding with it.
Projects that once attracted little attention are now the subject of local debate, investigative reporting, and broader public scrutiny.
For developers, that means communications strategy must evolve alongside infrastructure development.
Understanding the local media landscape, translating complex technologies into accessible language, and ensuring credible community voices are part of the conversation are now essential elements of data center community relations, data center community engagement, and data center public relations.
At Milldam Public Relations, we see this shift firsthand through our work helping developers navigate the evolving media environment surrounding digital infrastructure. Through our community relations work — and our ongoing Zoning In research tracking local sentiment and regulatory trends — we’ve seen how quickly the narrative around a project can take shape once local media attention begins.
Developers who invest early in community engagement, clear messaging, and localized media strategy are far better positioned to explain the role of digital infrastructure in their communities, before others define the story for them.
