Publication Items

High-Risk Reporting Yields Results on Palm Oil Investigation [1]

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 [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Chemicals [4]
Economy & Business [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [7]
Environmental Politics [8]
Food [9]
Forests [10]
Government [11]
Health [12]
Journalism & Media [13]
Natural Resources [14]
People & Population [15]
Pollution [16]
Water & Oceans [17]
Region:
International [18]
South America [19]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about High-Risk Reporting Yields Results on Palm Oil Investigation [1]
Wildfire DisInformation Becomes a State Weapon, Aided by AI [21]

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 [22]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [4]
Climate Change [23]
Economy & Business [5]
Energy & Fuel [24]
Environmental Politics [8]
Journalism & Media [13]
Policy [25]
Science [26]
Region:
National (U.S.) [27]
International [18]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Wildfire DisInformation Becomes a State Weapon, Aided by AI [21]
Waste Incineration May Put Toxics Into Local Air [28]

Sometimes on the environment beat, what seems like an old story is perpetually new again. That’s the case with waste incineration, finds the latest TipSheet. Rather than being reduced, incinerators are just being transformed, with the ongoing burning of plastics especially troubling for the environment and public health. Get the backstory on where the regulatory regime may have holes, plus key reporting angles and story ideas.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [29]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [30]
Air [31]
Chemicals [4]
Energy & Fuel [24]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [7]
Environmental Politics [8]
Health [12]
Journalism & Media [13]
Laws & Regulations [32]
Pollution [16]
Waste [33]
Region:
National (U.S.) [27]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Waste Incineration May Put Toxics Into Local Air [28]
Data on Pesticide Incidents Openly Available for First Time [34]

A decade’s worth of government pesticide data — only available before through FOIA — has been made newly available. And, explains the latest Reporter’s Toolbox, it can lead to revealing environmental, public health and environmental justice stories. More on how the data came to be compiled and advice on using it smartly, along with some caveats.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [35]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Chemicals [4]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [7]
Food [9]
Health [12]
Journalism & Media [13]
Laws & Regulations [32]
Pollution [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [27]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Data on Pesticide Incidents Openly Available for First Time [34]
Missouri, Florida Journalism Professors Join Classes on Multistate Fertilizer Investigation [36]

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 [37]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Chemicals [4]
Economy & Business [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [7]
Environmental Studies [38]
Fish & Fisheries [39]
Food [9]
Journalism & Media [13]
Pollution [16]
Water & Oceans [17]
Region:
National (U.S.) [27]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [40]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [41]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [42]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Missouri, Florida Journalism Professors Join Classes on Multistate Fertilizer Investigation [36]
Painful Process Underway of Regulating PFAS in Drinking Water [43]

Long-growing concern over dangerous “forever” chemicals has drawn the attention of federal and state policymakers, local communities and the utilities that provide their drinking water. But little about regulating PFAS will be quick or easy, making it a major environmental and public health story for years to come. Issue Backgrounder unfolds the regulatory moves, the politics and the larger implications of PFAS policy.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [44]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [4]
Consumer [45]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [11]
Health [12]
Infrastructure [46]
Journalism & Media [13]
Laws & Regulations [32]
Pollution [16]
Water & Oceans [17]
Region:
National (U.S.) [27]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Painful Process Underway of Regulating PFAS in Drinking Water [43]
Wildfire Smoke — Now a Local Story in Unaccustomed Places [47]

The harms of air pollutants created by wildfires are clear. What’s lost in the haze, though, is that wildfire smoke can carry those pollutants vast distances, threatening communities that are unfamiliar with the risks. The latest TipSheet explains the dangers and how far-flung wildfire smoke travels, then offers a dozen story ideas plus reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [29]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [31]
Chemicals [4]
Climate Change [23]
Disasters [48]
Forests [10]
Health [12]
Journalism & Media [13]
Pollution [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [27]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [49]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [41]
International [18]
Canada [50]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Wildfire Smoke — Now a Local Story in Unaccustomed Places [47]
Watching the Watchers: How Journalistic Teamwork Uncovered Years of Regulatory Failure in Texas [51]

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 [52]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [31]
Chemicals [4]
Disasters [48]
Economy & Business [5]
Energy & Fuel [24]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [7]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [11]
Health [12]
Journalism & Media [13]
Laws & Regulations [32]
Pollution [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [27]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [42]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Watching the Watchers: How Journalistic Teamwork Uncovered Years of Regulatory Failure in Texas [51]
Pesticide Data Can Ground Food and Farm Stories [53]

A billion pounds of chemicals are used on U.S. crops each year. Designed to protect them, they can also leave residue on foods we eat and enter the waterways we drink from. Reporter’s Toolbox has some key data sources for journalists, whether they’re looking at the big picture or are drilling down locally around issues of pesticide use and human or ecological health.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [35]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Chemicals [4]
Environmental Health [6]
Food [9]
Government [11]
Health [12]
Journalism & Media [13]
Pollution [16]
Water & Oceans [17]
Region:
National (U.S.) [27]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Pesticide Data Can Ground Food and Farm Stories [53]
As Bird Populations Crash, Local Reporting Can Help Untangle Why [54]

A precipitous decline in bird populations worldwide and in North America has numerous causes and is, at least in part, the result of human activity. But the complexity of the problem doesn’t mean that it can’t be reported on the ground by environmental journalists using nearby resources. The latest TipSheet has more, along with a dozen-and-a-half story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [29]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [55]
Chemicals [4]
Environmental Health [6]
Journalism & Media [13]
Wildlife [56]
Region:
National (U.S.) [27]
International [18]
Canada [50]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about As Bird Populations Crash, Local Reporting Can Help Untangle Why [54]

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