Publication Items

Committing to Collaboration: How Two Freelancers Pulled Off a Cross-Pacific Partnership [1]

Winnifred Bird and Jane Braxton Little, a former SEJ mentor program pair, describe (with humor!) the process of how they turned their shared interest in the Fukushima disaster's affect on forest ecosystems and rural communities into a successful writing collaboration.

SEJ Publication Types:
Freelance Files [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Health [3]
Forests [4]
Journalism & Media [5]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [6]
Region:
California [7]
Asia [8]
Europe [9]
Visibility:
Public [10]
- Read more about Committing to Collaboration: How Two Freelancers Pulled Off a Cross-Pacific Partnership [1]
J-Groups Call on Forest Service To Drop Permit Requirements [11]

A coalition of journalism groups, including SEJ, is calling on the U.S. Forest Service to make clear in its directives that journalists, documentarians, and media photographers do not need permits to take pictures in National Forest Wilderness or other public lands.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [12]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [13]
Forests [4]
Journalism & Media [5]
Policy [14]
Visibility:
Public [10]
- Read more about J-Groups Call on Forest Service To Drop Permit Requirements [11]
Chief Tidwell Directs Forest Service: No Permits, Fees for Journos [15]

"News coverage on [National Forest System] lands is protected by the Constitution," wrote U.S. Forest Service Chief Thomas L. Tidwell in a November 4, 2014, memo to agency leaders, "and it is our responsibility to safeguard this right on the lands we manage for all Americans. Journalists provide a critical public service, and this agency will ensure their access in the pursuit of that public service."
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [12]
Topics on the Beat:
Forests [4]
Journalism & Media [5]
Laws & Regulations [16]
Natural Resources [17]
Policy [14]
Visibility:
Public [10]
- Read more about Chief Tidwell Directs Forest Service: No Permits, Fees for Journos [15]
17 J-Groups Join SEJ in Letter on Wildlands Photo Regs [18]

Eighteen journalism, photography, and First Amendment groups on October 1, 2014, wrote U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell opposing the proposal to finalize a directive requiring permits for "commercial filming" in Forest Service Wilderness areas. Tidwell has already said the USFS does not want to restrict journalism on wilderness lands, but the groups seek changes to regulatory language that would make this clear. SEJ is one of the groups.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [12]
Topics on the Beat:
Forests [4]
Journalism & Media [5]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Visibility:
Public [10]
- Read more about 17 J-Groups Join SEJ in Letter on Wildlands Photo Regs [18]
SEJ FOI Chair Talks to Forest Service Chief Tidwell [20]

After proposing a directive that seemed to require permits and fees for journalists working in U.S. Forest Service wilderness lands, the USFS announced that it had never intended the restrictions to apply to journalists. Tim Wheeler, chairman of the Society of Environmental Journalists' Freedom of Information Task Force, talked with USFS Chief TomTidwell to clarify the USFS position. Here's his report. [21]

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [12]
Topics on the Beat:
Forests [4]
Journalism & Media [5]
Laws & Regulations [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Visibility:
Public [10]
- Read more about SEJ FOI Chair Talks to Forest Service Chief Tidwell [20]
Forest Service Seeks To Limit Journalists' Access to Wilderness Lands [22]

The U.S. Forest Service is seeking to harden rules that would require a journalist to get a permit and pay a fee of up to $1,500 in order to report inside a federal wilderness. [Update -- 9/25/14: Forest Service Chief Tidwell says media don't need permit] [23]

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [12]
Topics on the Beat:
Forests [4]
Journalism & Media [5]
Laws & Regulations [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [19]
Visibility:
Public [10]
- Read more about Forest Service Seeks To Limit Journalists' Access to Wilderness Lands [22]
"For God, Country & Coca-Cola" [24]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [26]
Consumer [27]
Economy & Business [28]
Forests [4]
Pollution [29]
Water & Oceans [30]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [31]
Visibility:
Public [10]
- Read more about "For God, Country & Coca-Cola" [24]
Got Corruption? Data on State Lawmaker Conflicts Hard To Get [32]

A large and diverse array of businesses have an interest in the environmental and energy laws that state legislatures consider: including coal, oil, plastics, chemicals, mining, forest products, and others. The possible financial stake lawmakers may have in the bills before them is fertile ground for investigation. Here's help in finding story ideas.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [12]
Topics on the Beat:
Natural Resources [17]
Laws & Regulations [16]
Government [33]
Forests [4]
Energy & Fuel [34]
Chemicals [26]
Visibility:
Public [10]
- Read more about Got Corruption? Data on State Lawmaker Conflicts Hard To Get [32]
Global Talks Offer Chance To Improve US Extractive Industries Transparency [35]

An initiative involving some 35 nations aims to solve many complex revenue-reporting problems, including improving the flow of information across national borders. But solutions can't even begin until individual nations get a grip on accurate data about extractive industries within their own borders. The results could illuminate key environmental policy issues.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [12]
Topics on the Beat:
Policy [14]
Natural Resources [17]
Forests [4]
Energy & Fuel [34]
Visibility:
Public [10]
- Read more about Global Talks Offer Chance To Improve US Extractive Industries Transparency [35]
USFS Offers Climate Change Bird Atlas [36]

The atlas — a database actually — is based partly on climate-related changes in tree cover. It maps out current distribution of 147 species and modeled distribution resulting from climate change.
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [37]
Topics on the Beat:
Wildlife [38]
Forests [4]
Climate Change [39]
Biodiversity [40]
Visibility:
Public [10]
- Read more about USFS Offers Climate Change Bird Atlas [36]

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