EJToday daily news headlines Climate change guide Useful links WatchDog TipSheet 5.7.08 Donate to SEJ
THE BILLBOARD
Dias y Flores Garden, NYC. © SEJ and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Dias y Flores Garden, NYC
• SEJ joins in suit on officials' e-mails
• Link of the week: Oregon Sea Grant's Communicating Climate Change
• Covering Climate Change: A Seminar Snapshot by SEJ and NewsU
• SEJournal excerpt: Nation's First Investigative Reporter Drilled Deep on Big Oil
• What's where on SEJ.org???
• SEJ's Canada resources
• SEJ's Climate change guide
• JournalismTraining.org
• Online membership renewal and donations
• SEJ wants you: How to get involved and make a difference for environmental journalism
News feeds available for selected SEJ contentNews feeds available for selected SEJ web content
Story ideas from TipSheet NEW 5/7/08
The parallel rising demands for organic food and aquaculture products may soon converge as later this month the US National Organic Standards Board announces more components of its proposed standards for organic aquaculture products. You'll find this, as well as other environmental story ideas, in the latest issue of TipSheet.
SEJ tracks threats to freedom of information NEW 5/7/08

On May 6, 2008, joined other journalism groups in filing a "friend of the court" brief in a Washington state lawsuit seeking access to public officials' e-mails under state law. Many reporters use e-mail messages obtained by FOIA requests or other means as the basis for high-impact stories about government corruption or malfeasance. Full details.

Also, check out the latest issue of SEJ's award-winning FOI publication, WatchDog Tipsheet, with searchable archives of story ideas, articles, updates, events and other information with a focus on FOI issues of concern to environmental journalists in both the United States and Canada. It includes a database of State FOI Resources and Actions.

SEJ and NewsU collaborations NEW 4/22/08
Covering Climate Change seminar snapshot graphic
News University, the Poynter Institute's innovative e-learning center that helps journalists through self-directed training, has made available "Covering Climate Change: A Seminar Snapshot," at no cost to registered users of NewsU. This Seminar Snapshot, produced in partnership with the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) and the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting, is an edited version of the full-day News Executive Roundtable on Climate Change, a pre-conference event for SEJ's 2007 annual conference at Stanford University. Get ideas for innovative environmental coverage, understand how human activity is impacting the climate, see what effect climate change has on plants and animals and find out more about energy policy and conservation.

Covering Water Quality graphic
Another free course, available through partnership between SEJ and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies/NewsU, is "Covering Water Quality." The course, instructed by Amy Gahran on behalf of SEJ, helps participants gain a better understanding of the issues surrounding the quality of drinking water.
Calendar events of the week NEW 5/5/08
May 13, 2008: Rainwater Harvesting: An Outdoor Exploration in New York City will examine the potential for urban adaptation of this ancient technique to catch rain for later use — which helps cities save money and reduce pollution from sewer overflows. The event, sponsored by Science Writers in New York, is being held at the Dias y Flores community garden in the East Village, site of one of the forty rainwater-harvesting systems in NYC. Contact: Carol Milano.

May 22, 2008: The Environmental Law Institute and 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania are holding a workshop in Harrisburg, PA, Saving $ — Managing Water, for Pennsylvania's water professionals and citizens interested in water resources. The workshop will cover regional and collaborative approaches to water, sewer, and stormwater management, and discuss implications and opportunities presented by new state water initiatives. Contact: Yen Hoang, Environmental Law Institute, 2000 L Street NW, Suite 620 Washington, DC 20036. Phone: 202-939-3800. Fax: 202-939-3868.

Looking for current events on interesting environmental topics? The above events are this week's features from SEJ's popular Environmental Events Calendar, which is emailed weekly to members, and is available online here. Know of an upcoming event that may be of interest to environmental journalists? You'll also find a simple submission form you can use to add an event to the listing.

Link of the week: SEJournal Spring 2008 NEW 5/5/08
Produced by Oregon Sea Grant at Oregon State University, Communicating Climate Change is a series of taped interviews with leading social scientists on the question of how to communicate about climate change to a broad public. Interviewees to date include Anthony Leiserowitz, Susanne Moser, Caron Chess, Baruch Fischhoff and Ed Maibach. While intended for an audience of meteorologists, science journalists, government agency personnel, university outreach specialists, and members of non-governmental organizations, the podcast offers thought-provoking content for lay audiences as well.

Need fast facts or key sources on deadline? The above link is just one of the more than 1,500 in SEJ's growing links library. We mine the web and rate web sites based on their usefulness to journalists. Search by key word or browse by category.

Excerpt from SEJournal NEW 4/21/08
Nation's First Investigative Reporter Drilled Deep on Big Oil
By STEVE WEINBERG
In this essay written exclusively for SEJ, Steve Weinberg looks back at the career of Ida Tarbell, inventor of investigative reporting, who drilled deep on big oil >100 years ago Full story.

Spring 2008
Table of Contents
NOTE: All of the other articles in the Spring 2008 SEJournal are available to members only here (information on joining SEJ). Subscribers receive a hard and/or e-copy (information on subscribing).Subscribers: Watch your email — or contact SEJ for an e-copy. Information on subscribing. Previous issues of SEJournal are available to both members and non-members here.

SEJournal, the quarterly newsletter of the Society of Environmental Journalists, offers advice, research, tips and tools to better your writing. With a fresh new look, the Web Edition of SEJournal Spring 2008 has lots of clickable web addresses for quick reference and magnificent color photos. (Mac users: Note that URLs will not be hotlinked if you're using Preview. Open the PDF in Adobe Reader for clickable links.)

Resources for reporting on climate change
SEJ has created a special reporters' online resource section devoted to climate — Climate Change: A Guide to the Information and Disinformation. It is drawn from the Rolodexes, notebooks, and background files of some of the top reporters in the business. The guide is, and will remain, a work in progress. Let us know what you think.
SEJ outreach programs
Are you looking for ways to improve environmental coverage in your newsroom? SEJ can help, with our speaker's bureau, mentoring program and publications such as TipSheet and our environmental events calendar. Contact the SEJ office for more details.
An organization of journalists, for journalists
SEJ2007 conference attendees learn about "Fire Ecology and Management within an Urban-Wildland Interface," one of 10 Sunday tours at Stanford University's Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve.
Photo by Beth Parke. Click to enlarge.
With more than 1,300 members, SEJ is North America's only organization of journalists who cover the environment. Membership is open to journalists, educators and students. Non-members may attend SEJ's conferences, subscribe to the quarterly SEJournal or contact SEJ members via our mailing list or our e-mail service. Surf our pages for everything you want to know about environmental reporting.

THE source for journalists reporting on the environment
JournalismTraining.org
JournalismTraining.org logo
JournalismTraining.org was created to provide a centralized location for journalists seeking information about professional development opportunities. The site brings together those seeking training and those best equipped to provide it. You'll find a searchable database of local, regional and national journalism training programs arranged to easily find, compare and determine which training best meets your individual needs. The project was developed by the Society of Professional Journalists for the Council of National Journalism Organizations (CNJO), of which SEJ is an affiliate. Brochure (requires free Adobe Acrobat ® reader).

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SEJ EVENT COVERAGE
Multimedia coverage for:
• Covering Climate: The Health Angle (April 30)
• Green Business — Sorting Fact from Hype (April 28)
• Political Climate: Environment, Energy & the 2008 Election (April 11)
JOURNALISM EVENTS
AND OPPORTUNITIES:

May 10, 2008: DEADLINE to apply for veteran magazine writer/SEJ member Wendee Holtcamp's next Nature Writing Online Course, May 17-Jun 28, 2008.

May 12, 2008: SEJ members/friends pub night, 7:30 pm, Fernwood Inn (corner of Fernwood and Gladstone), Victoria, BC, Canada. More info/RSVP.

May 12, 2008: DEADLINE to apply for the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation beat reporting and minority fellowships. Awarded to full-time radio and television journalists in electronic journalism with 10 years or less experience.

May 15, 2008: DEADLINE to apply for the annual Middlebury Fellowships in Environmental Journalism (one week each in spring and fall), which help early-career journalists work through and publish a print, web or radio reporting project. Directed by Environmental Studies Scholar-in-Residence Bill McKibben. $10K stipend.

May 15, 2008: DEADLINE to apply for the one-week, expenses-paid Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Ocean Science Journalism Fellowship Program, September 7-12, 2008. Optional second week of independent study is available.

May 16, 2008: DEADLINE to apply for a National Center for Atmospheric Research Journalism Fellowship, an introduction to atmospheric and Earth system sciences for science communicators, June 23-27, in Boulder, CO.

May 20, 2008: DEADLINE to apply for the 2-4 week, summer/fall session at The Mesa Refuge, a residency program in Point Reyes, CA. Room and most meals are no cost.

May 27-30, 2008: University of Maryland Knight Center for Specialized Journalism seminar Climate Change, Its Sweeping Impact, Washington, DC. Co-sponsored by the Society of Environmental Journalists and the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University.

May 31, 2008: DEADLINE to enter the Online News Association's worldwide Online Journalism Awards. Two new categories: General Excellence in Online Journalism, non-English and Online Video Journalism.

June 1, 2008: DEADLINE to apply for Blue Earth Alliance sponsorship of your educational photographic project about threatened cultures, endangered environments or other social concerns.

June 1, 2008: DEADLINE to apply for the International Journalism Exchange (IJE) program, a six-week fellowship in the U.S., September/October 2008, for experienced newspaper editors from developing or transition countries.

June 1, 2008: DEADLINE for the Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism: Two $5,000 prizes — one to a local reporter in a developing country or nation in transition, and the other to a freelance journalist covering international news — for print articles focusing on controversial issues, and which demonstrate that courage and determination were tapped to get the story.

June 2, 2008: DEADLINE for the Renewable Natural Resources Foundation Excellence in Journalism Award, honoring excellent accurate and scientifically-based print journalism which increases public understanding of natural resources issues.

June 11, 2008: DEADLINE to enter J-Lab's Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism. A $10,000 grand prize and up to $5,000 in Special Distinction Awards are offered.

Jun 21, 2008: SEJ board meeting, Toronto, ON. All members welcome. Details TBA.

June 30 and July 1, 2008: DEADLINES for Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico-Gulf of California (July 1) in the Biodiversity Reporting Award. Additional 2008 deadlines may include: Caucasus Region, Guyana, Madagascar, Mexico and Venezuela.

July 31, 2008: DEADLINE to apply for the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism at The Ohio State University, offering two types of fellowships. Kiplinger Fellows and Knight Digital Media and Public Affairs Fellows learn how to produce powerful multimedia projects. Includes stipend, benefits, tuition.

MORE: Journalism awards, fellowships/workshops and a calendar of environmental events.

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The Society of Environmental Journalists
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Telephone: (215) 884-8174 Fax: (215) 884-8175
sej@sej.org

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