Publication Items

Pesticide Data Can Ground Food and Farm Stories [1]

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 [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Chemicals [4]
Environmental Health [5]
Food [6]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Pollution [10]
Water & Oceans [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Pesticide Data Can Ground Food and Farm Stories [1]
CAFO SNAFU — Why Emissions Data Are So Hard To Find [14]

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 [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Air [15]
Economy & Business [16]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [17]
Environmental Politics [18]
Food [6]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [19]
Pollution [10]
Waste [20]
Water & Oceans [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about CAFO SNAFU — Why Emissions Data Are So Hard To Find [14]
Tilling the Storytelling Fields on the Food, Ag and Environment Beat [21]

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 [22]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Biodiversity [23]
Climate Change [24]
Consumer [25]
Economy & Business [16]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [17]
Food [6]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Pollution [10]
Waste [20]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Tilling the Storytelling Fields on the Food, Ag and Environment Beat [21]
Why the 2023 Farm Bill Will Actually Be an Environmental Story — and a Huge One [26]

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.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [27]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Climate Change [24]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [17]
Environmental Politics [18]
Food [6]
Forests [28]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Laws & Regulations [19]
Natural Resources [29]
Policy [30]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Why the 2023 Farm Bill Will Actually Be an Environmental Story — and a Huge One [26]
From Swine Waste, Student Journalist Extracts Prize-Winning Story [31]

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.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ Academy [32]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Air [15]
Chemicals [4]
Diversity [33]
Economy & Business [16]
Energy & Fuel [34]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [17]
Environmental Politics [18]
Food [6]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [19]
Pollution [10]
Science [35]
Technology [36]
Waste [20]
Water & Oceans [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [37]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about From Swine Waste, Student Journalist Extracts Prize-Winning Story [31]
SEJ Panel Gauges Issues in the Works in the U.S. West [38]

As part of our 2023 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment special report, we’ve got highlights from last week’s reporter panel on the year ahead, led by #SEJ2023 conference co-chair Tom Michael (pictured, left). The focus was largely on the U.S. West, where challenges abound over issues like equitable siting of renewable energy infrastructure, regulating natural gas, managing wildfires and addressing the health consequences of climate-driven heat waves. Read our account [38], plus check out the full 2023 Guide [39].

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [40]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Air [15]
Biodiversity [23]
Climate Change [24]
Disasters [41]
Economy & Business [16]
Energy & Fuel [34]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [17]
Environmental Politics [18]
Fish & Fisheries [42]
Food [6]
Forests [28]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Infrastructure [43]
Journalism & Media [9]
Natural Resources [29]
People & Population [44]
Planning & Growth [45]
Policy [30]
Pollution [10]
Water & Oceans [11]
Wildlife [46]
Region:
California [47]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [48]
Northwest (OR WA) [49]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [50]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about SEJ Panel Gauges Issues in the Works in the U.S. West [38]
Cascadia Bioregion Rife With Energy, Environment Troubles To Report in 2023 [51]

Iconic critters like salmon, orca and wolves. Climate controversies like natural gas greenwashing and carbon auctions. And wildfire fallout like “smoke-a-geddon.” These are just some of the wide array of stories worth covering as environmental journalists scan Cascadia, the huge area encompassing Washington, Oregon and Idaho, and stretching from Alaska to Utah. This special TipSheet, part of our 2023 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment, outlines top issues in the region, offering insights, resources and story angles.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [52]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [53]
Agriculture [3]
Air [15]
Biodiversity [23]
Climate Change [24]
Consumer [25]
Disasters [41]
Diversity [33]
Economy & Business [16]
Energy & Fuel [34]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [17]
Environmental Politics [18]
Environmental Studies [54]
Fish & Fisheries [42]
Food [6]
Forests [28]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Infrastructure [43]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [19]
Natural Resources [29]
Planning & Growth [45]
Policy [30]
Pollution [10]
Transportation [55]
Waste [20]
Water & Oceans [11]
Wildlife [46]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Alaska and Hawaii [56]
California [47]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [48]
Northwest (OR WA) [49]
International [57]
Canada [58]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Cascadia Bioregion Rife With Energy, Environment Troubles To Report in 2023 [51]
Exploring the Impacts of Hydroelectric Megaprojects on Indigenous Lands [59]

Nearly two-thirds of the world’s rivers are impeded by dams and we keep building them in our quest for cleaner and greener sources of electricity. But as podcast producer Farha Akhtar learned while producing a recent episode, these monumental structures are having a profound impact on our planet and catastrophic consequences for many Indigenous people.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [22]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [53]
Biodiversity [23]
Chemicals [4]
Climate Change [24]
Consumer [25]
Diversity [33]
Economy & Business [16]
Energy & Fuel [34]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [17]
Environmental Politics [18]
Fish & Fisheries [42]
Food [6]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Infrastructure [43]
Journalism & Media [9]
Natural Resources [29]
Pollution [10]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [60]
Science [35]
Technology [36]
Water & Oceans [11]
Wildlife [46]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
International [57]
Canada [58]
Asia [61]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Exploring the Impacts of Hydroelectric Megaprojects on Indigenous Lands [59]
Journalism Industry Program Supports Reporting on Workers — and Work — in a Warming World [62]

As the economic impacts of climate change intensify, reporting on how individuals are affected, particularly in the Global South, is lagging. Veteran journalist Christine Spolar at The Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting details a new initiative to encourage journalists to fill this gap. The story of recent grantees Bhasker Tripathi and Susan Schulman, who have tracked job losses and migrations tied to climate change in India and Iraq.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [22]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [53]
Agriculture [3]
Climate Change [24]
Disasters [41]
Economy & Business [16]
Environmental Justice [17]
Environmental Politics [18]
Food [6]
Government [7]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
People & Population [44]
Policy [30]
Technology [36]
Water & Oceans [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
International [57]
Africa [63]
Asia [61]
Middle East [64]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Journalism Industry Program Supports Reporting on Workers — and Work — in a Warming World [62]
How a Distant Chapter in Spice Trade Foretells Today’s Climate Chaos [65]

When Europeans colonized remote Indonesian islands centuries ago to dominate the trade in nutmeg and cloves, they were repeating a pattern of domination of peoples and nature that author Amitav Ghosh argues in his latest book has brought us to the present-day environmental crisis. BookShelf reviewer Melody Kemp offers praise for the book’s strong narrative qualities and incisive historical analysis.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [66]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Climate Change [24]
Environmental Justice [17]
Environmental Politics [18]
Food [6]
Natural Resources [29]
People & Population [44]
Policy [30]
Region:
International [57]
Asia [61]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about How a Distant Chapter in Spice Trade Foretells Today’s Climate Chaos [65]

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