Publication Items

Reporters Reveal ‘Decades of Deceit’ Over Underground Water Contamination [1]

A trove of confidential documents about a well-known groundwater pollution problem helped journalists Paul LaRocco and David M. Schwartz uncover how much had actually been hidden about the contamination’s severity and how it could have been kept from worsening. In the latest Inside Story Q&A, LaRocco and Schwartz share the story behind their award-winning investigation.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Disasters [4]
Economy & Business [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Health [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
Military [9]
Pollution [10]
Water & Oceans [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [13]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Reporters Reveal ‘Decades of Deceit’ Over Underground Water Contamination [1]
New Reporting Network Aims To Make Connections in the Mississippi Basin [15]

The Mississippi River and its tributaries drain more than 40% of the continent, but most coverage of environmental stories within the Mississippi Basin is localized and siloed. The recently launched Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk hopes to help news outlets provide region-wide reporting that contextualizes issues like climate change-driven flooding and the Gulf of Mexico dead zone.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [16]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [17]
Chemicals [3]
Climate Change [18]
Disasters [4]
Economy & Business [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [19]
Fish & Fisheries [20]
Government [21]
Infrastructure [22]
Journalism & Media [8]
Pollution [10]
Transportation [23]
Waste [24]
Water & Oceans [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [25]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [26]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [27]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [28]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [13]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [29]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [30]
International [31]
Canada [32]
Mexico [33]
Central America & the Caribbean [34]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about New Reporting Network Aims To Make Connections in the Mississippi Basin [15]
When Reporting on Toxic Hotspots, Go Deeper With Cancer Registries [35]

As awareness grows about how pollution can cause certain cancers, it’s smart to look beyond cancer risk and also explore available information about actual cancer cases. Reporter’s Toolbox explains how extensive data collected regularly in state-level cancer “registries” can take your coverage on the pollution-public health connection to another level. Plus, avoiding pitfalls in reporting possible clusters.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [36]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [37]
Chemicals [3]
Disasters [4]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [19]
Environmental Politics [38]
Environmental Studies [39]
Government [21]
Health [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
People & Population [40]
Pollution [10]
Science [41]
Waste [24]
Water & Oceans [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [13]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [29]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about When Reporting on Toxic Hotspots, Go Deeper With Cancer Registries [35]
Congressional Infrastructure Bill Loaded With Local Stories [42]

The massive infrastructure measure signed into law last week is a potential mother lode of stories for environmental journalists. If that is, they can figure out where the money is going. The latest TipSheet takes an initial look at the $1.2 trillion plan and offers guidance on how to track down reportable local and regional projects.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [43]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Climate Change [18]
Disasters [4]
Economy & Business [5]
Energy & Fuel [44]
Environmental Politics [38]
Government [21]
Infrastructure [22]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [45]
Policy [46]
Transportation [23]
Water & Oceans [11]
Wildlife [47]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Congressional Infrastructure Bill Loaded With Local Stories [42]
U.N. Summit Lays the Table for Environmental Reporting on Food Systems [48]

After an 18-month buildup, a one-day U.N. Food Systems Summit earlier this fall generated hundreds of commitments to end global hunger and a dizzying array of alliances dedicated to the cause. Despite controversies surrounding the summit, this groundbreaking event highlighted opportunities for reporting on food and food systems. Award-winning agriculture journalist Chris Clayton shares his insights.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [16]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [49]
Agriculture [17]
Biodiversity [50]
Chemicals [3]
Climate Change [18]
Consumer [51]
Disasters [4]
Economy & Business [5]
Energy & Fuel [44]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [19]
Environmental Politics [38]
Food [52]
Government [21]
Health [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [45]
Natural Resources [53]
People & Population [40]
Planning & Growth [54]
Policy [46]
Pollution [10]
Science [41]
Technology [55]
Waste [24]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
California [56]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [26]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [30]
International [31]
Canada [32]
Africa [57]
Europe [58]
Middle East [59]
South America [60]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about U.N. Summit Lays the Table for Environmental Reporting on Food Systems [48]
Will Animal-To-Human Disease Transmission Bring the Next Big Pandemic? [61]

The COVID-19 outbreak has left little unchanged — including how environment reporters do their jobs, given that many experts believe the disruption of the human-wild interface could be the source of the next deadly virus. The new Backgrounder makes the case in this analysis, looking at how societies — and journalists — handled this pandemic and must prepare for possible future outbreaks.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [62]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [17]
Biodiversity [50]
Disasters [4]
Environmental Health [6]
Forests [63]
Government [21]
Health [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
People & Population [40]
Science [41]
Wildlife [47]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
International [31]
Asia [64]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Will Animal-To-Human Disease Transmission Bring the Next Big Pandemic? [61]
Mapping Flood Risk — Research Outfit Offers Alternative Dataset [65]

Climate change makes flooding — and flood reporting — increasingly likely, and yet government data on flood risk often falls short. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox offers an alternative, an ambitious, peer-reviewed dataset from a unique nonprofit research outfit that offers free data aggregated to the zip code, county and congressional district levels. More on the dataset and how to use it.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [36]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [18]
Disasters [4]
Environmental Studies [39]
Infrastructure [22]
Journalism & Media [8]
Water & Oceans [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Mapping Flood Risk — Research Outfit Offers Alternative Dataset [65]
Climate Resiliency — When a Disaster Becomes a Cascade [66]

It sometimes feels like journalists lurch from one catastrophe (or hurricane, flood, wildfire, heat wave) to the next. But that can mean missing the bigger story: Disasters, increasingly linked to climate extremes, are often interlocking events, in which one system failure causes the next and the next. The latest Backgrounder explores three case studies, and how news media can focus attention on steps toward resilience.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [62]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [18]
Disasters [4]
Energy & Fuel [44]
Environmental Justice [19]
Environmental Politics [38]
Government [21]
Health [7]
Infrastructure [22]
Journalism & Media [8]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [67]
People & Population [40]
Planning & Growth [54]
Technology [55]
Water & Oceans [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [29]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [30]
International [31]
Asia [64]
Europe [58]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Climate Resiliency — When a Disaster Becomes a Cascade [66]
How Climate Attribution Science Went Mainstream, and What It Means [68]

A growing body of research shows the links between global warming and extreme weather. And that knowledge can help communities prepare, and assign responsibility for damages. Veteran climate journalist Bob Berwyn lays out the science of climate attribution — for heat waves, flooding, wildfires and, ironically, crop-killing freezes — and discusses its implications for future climate change policy.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [16]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [49]
Agriculture [17]
Climate Change [18]
Disasters [4]
Economy & Business [5]
Environmental Justice [19]
Environmental Politics [38]
Environmental Studies [39]
Food [52]
Government [21]
Infrastructure [22]
Laws & Regulations [45]
Planning & Growth [54]
Policy [46]
Science [41]
Water & Oceans [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
International [31]
Europe [58]
South America [60]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about How Climate Attribution Science Went Mainstream, and What It Means [68]
The 9/11 Legacy — Fear Drew Curtain Over Environmental Information [69]

Twenty years after the attacks on 9/11, the war on terror has left many risks in the built environment under a cloak of secrecy. For WatchDog Opinion, keeping vital information about such preventable hazards under wraps from the public and journalists is not just wrong, but bad policy. Here’s why. Plus, a rundown for environment reporters of where exactly this secrecy reigns.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [70]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [49]
Agriculture [17]
Air [37]
Chemicals [3]
Disasters [4]
Economy & Business [5]
Energy & Fuel [44]
Environmental Politics [38]
Food [52]
Government [21]
Health [7]
Infrastructure [22]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [45]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [67]
People & Population [40]
Policy [46]
Transportation [23]
Waste [24]
Water & Oceans [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
California [56]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [30]
International [31]
Africa [57]
Asia [64]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about The 9/11 Legacy — Fear Drew Curtain Over Environmental Information [69]

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