Publication Items

Seabed Mining May Dredge Up Real Minerals, Fishy Worries in 2024 [1]

The mining of the ocean floor has stirred up significant debate, much of which clouds the realities of whether and to what degree it would cause ecological harm to one of the world’s greatest resources. This week’s TipSheet looks more closely at the controversy, which may well come to a head in the coming year. The latest entry in SEJournal’s 2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment and Energy.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Biodiversity [4]
Climate Change [5]
Economy & Business [6]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Politics [8]
Fish & Fisheries [9]
Food [10]
Government [11]
Journalism & Media [12]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Natural Resources [14]
Policy [15]
Pollution [16]
Water & Oceans [17]
Region:
International [18]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Seabed Mining May Dredge Up Real Minerals, Fishy Worries in 2024 [1]
High-Risk Reporting Yields Results on Palm Oil Investigation [20]

The devastation caused by the Amazonian palm oil industry was at the heart of an investigation by Mongabay reporter Karla Mendes. But first she had to face hostile sources, intransigent regulators and a robbery attempt. Ultimately, the project not only won a reporting prize from the Society of Environmental Journalists but brought global awareness and government action. Her experience, in Inside Story Q&A.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [22]
Chemicals [23]
Economy & Business [6]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Justice [24]
Environmental Politics [8]
Food [10]
Forests [25]
Government [11]
Health [26]
Journalism & Media [12]
Natural Resources [14]
People & Population [27]
Pollution [16]
Water & Oceans [17]
Region:
International [18]
South America [28]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about High-Risk Reporting Yields Results on Palm Oil Investigation [20]
Prying Open the Statehouse Doors [29]

Reporting on environmental stories often leads to the state legislature, where key material can be frustratingly hard to access. Whether that’s because the state is deliberately hiding information, has poor systems for sharing it or isn’t even tracking it, there are ways to get what you need. Four seasoned environment reporters offer tips, tricks and commiseration.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [30]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [31]
Economy & Business [6]
Energy & Fuel [32]
Government [11]
Infrastructure [33]
Journalism & Media [12]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Natural Resources [14]
Policy [15]
Water & Oceans [17]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
California [35]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [36]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [37]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [38]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Prying Open the Statehouse Doors [29]
Home Insurance Likely To Be a 2024 Climate Story Near You [39]

In the first of a two-parter for our 2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment & Energy, TipSheet looks at what climate-driven disasters mean for the home insurance market. Storms, floods and fire rip through communities, yet a federal insurance program falls short, lawmakers shy away from real reform and insurers grow hesitant to cover the risks, while homeowners often attempt to rebuild in the same problematic locales. Plus, see part two [40] on extreme weather and insurance.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [5]
Consumer [41]
Disasters [42]
Economy & Business [6]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [11]
Journalism & Media [12]
Laws & Regulations [13]
People & Population [27]
Planning & Growth [43]
Policy [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
California [35]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [37]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [44]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Home Insurance Likely To Be a 2024 Climate Story Near You [39]
Wildfire DisInformation Becomes a State Weapon, Aided by AI [45]

How did the Lahaina wildfire spark an AI-driven influence campaign out of China? Perhaps a technological leap. Or perhaps, the new WatchDog Opinion column suggests, a natural evolution of a decades-old disinformation playbook with roots in a war against science and culminating in climate denial. A look at the disturbing prospects and a plea for journalists not to sidestep the phenomenon but to cover it.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [46]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [23]
Climate Change [5]
Economy & Business [6]
Energy & Fuel [32]
Environmental Politics [8]
Journalism & Media [12]
Policy [15]
Science [47]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
International [18]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Wildfire DisInformation Becomes a State Weapon, Aided by AI [45]
Free Press Nearly Impossible With Corporate Business Model [48]

It may seem like fast-moving technology that’s undermining traditional news outlets. But for WatchDog Opinion, it may be more about the notion of news as property, rather than a public good. Could nonprofit newsrooms — many of which cover energy and the environment — be a better model? And is there a funding mechanism that would support them sustainably … and permanently?

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [46]
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business [6]
Journalism & Media [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Free Press Nearly Impossible With Corporate Business Model [48]
Missouri, Florida Journalism Professors Join Classes on Multistate Fertilizer Investigation [49]

What brought together two teams of student reporters, half a dozen states and 1,000 miles apart? For one, the high environmental cost of chemical fertilizer. For another, a pair of dedicated journalism teachers. Cynthia Barnett and Sara Shipley Hiles share how they took the project from daydream to reality, brought students into the field and got pickup from numerous news outlets, in the latest EJ Academy.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ Academy [50]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [22]
Chemicals [23]
Economy & Business [6]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Justice [24]
Environmental Studies [51]
Fish & Fisheries [9]
Food [10]
Journalism & Media [12]
Pollution [16]
Water & Oceans [17]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [52]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [44]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [38]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Missouri, Florida Journalism Professors Join Classes on Multistate Fertilizer Investigation [49]
Watching the Watchers: How Journalistic Teamwork Uncovered Years of Regulatory Failure in Texas [53]

After a massive fire at a Texas petrochemical storage facility, reporters from Public Health Watch and The Texas Tribune worked together to shed light on who was responsible for this disaster and what health threats had been hidden from the public. This behind-the-scenes report from Public Health Watch’s David Leffler and Savanna Strott looks at the challenges the team faced and how they overcame them.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [30]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [31]
Chemicals [23]
Disasters [42]
Economy & Business [6]
Energy & Fuel [32]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Justice [24]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [11]
Health [26]
Journalism & Media [12]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Pollution [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [38]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Watching the Watchers: How Journalistic Teamwork Uncovered Years of Regulatory Failure in Texas [53]
CAFO SNAFU — Why Emissions Data Are So Hard To Find [54]

Sometimes the challenge for environmental reporters is a mess of data. But sometimes it’s just less data. That’s the case with confined animal feed operations, which have been the subject of a years-long political tug of war over tracking emissions harmful to humans and the environment. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox explains, then offers alternate sources for CAFO data.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [55]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [22]
Air [31]
Economy & Business [6]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Justice [24]
Environmental Politics [8]
Food [10]
Health [26]
Journalism & Media [12]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Pollution [16]
Waste [56]
Water & Oceans [17]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about CAFO SNAFU — Why Emissions Data Are So Hard To Find [54]
Tilling the Storytelling Fields on the Food, Ag and Environment Beat [57]

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.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [30]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [22]
Biodiversity [4]
Climate Change [5]
Consumer [41]
Economy & Business [6]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Justice [24]
Food [10]
Government [11]
Health [26]
Journalism & Media [12]
Pollution [16]
Waste [56]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Tilling the Storytelling Fields on the Food, Ag and Environment Beat [57]

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