In his more than a decade at the helm of the Food & Environment Reporting Network, Samuel Fromartz was instrumental in shaping a new way of covering food, agriculture and environmental issues. As he prepares to turn over the top editor’s job to his successor, Fromartz talks about FERN’s innovative business model and the power of narrative.
"Wildfires regularly sweep through California, destroying forests and threatening homes. But a recent study shows an unexpected danger of the fires: They can shut down, or prevent access to, hospitals and other inpatient facilities."
The complicated interplay between climate change and trauma, poorly understood and little covered, is holding back the response by individuals and communities to the realities of the climate crisis, argues the head of a network of mental health and other organizations. Here’s what he has found when it comes to how climate-generated anguish is blocking climate solutions and what can be done about it.
"A new report released by UNICEF finds that 67 million children across the world missed out on either some or all routine vaccinations between 2019 and 2021, and 48 million children didn't receive a single dose during this time period."
When it comes to a core data set that just keeps giving for environmental journalists, Reporter’s Toolbox points you to the Toxics Release Inventory. A new year of data has just been released, with much insight to be extracted. And the TRI now also includes PFAS chemicals for the first time. Here’s how to use it for your local stories.
With the federal government now requiring that states pay closer attention to cybersecurity risks in their regular audits of public drinking water systems, environmental journalists should be doing the same, suggests the latest TipSheet. Here’s how to gauge the cyber risk and to understand the current safe drinking water regulatory regime, plus story ideas and resources to bolster your local reporting.
A massive farm bill soon to emerge for debate in Congress will have enormous implications for the environment beat, affecting natural resources, environmental health and climate, not to mention food production and public health. Backgrounder lays out some of the key issues expected to be taken up in the twice-a-decade measure and provides resources for ongoing coverage.
Environmental reporters can prepare for possible rail accidents involving hazardous materials — like the one that hit East Palestine, Ohio — by having a keener understanding of what hazmat may be regularly carried through their communities. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox guides you to helpful lists of dangerous substances while offering a rundown of nearly a dozen-and-a-half of the worst offenders and their risks.
Under federal rules, states can decide whether to divulge information about hazardous materials rolling along their railways — and mostly they don’t. Not knowing where and when hazmat trains are traveling or what’s on board creates anxiety and raises the risk for those who live near the tracks. TipSheet offers resources and step-by-step instructions for investigating railway hazmat threats to your community.
Industrial hog farmers tout swine biogas as a clean, green energy source, but others point to its messy side. A young journalist who investigated the underreported stench of environmental racism associated with this technology learned valuable lessons along the way to producing a feature story that won her a Society of Environmental Journalists’ award for outstanding student reporting.
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