Publication Items

“Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution” [1]

To better grasp how COVID-19 is linked to the persistent problem of polluted air, our latest BookShelf review recommends going back to a prescient text, “Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution.” While the volume predates the pandemic, it makes painfully clear why, during this crisis, healthy air matters more than ever.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Disasters [4]
Health [5]
Laws & Regulations [6]
People & Population [7]
Pollution [8]
Science [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
International [11]
Asia [12]
Europe [13]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about “Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution” [1]
Could Combined Sewer Overflows Be a COVID-19 Threat? [15]

For reporters investigating the coronavirus-environment connection, you might look to the untreated sewage that can sometimes overflow municipal systems during wet weather, possibly bringing the novel pathogen to beaches and other places where people can get sick from it. The latest TipSheet takes a look at the reality, plus provides story ideas and reporter resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [16]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
Environmental Health [17]
Environmental Studies [18]
Government [19]
Health [5]
Journalism & Media [20]
Laws & Regulations [6]
People & Population [7]
Pollution [8]
Waste [21]
Water & Oceans [22]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
California [23]
International [11]
Europe [13]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Could Combined Sewer Overflows Be a COVID-19 Threat? [15]
COVID-19 Data Challenges Can Spark Better Journalism [24]

Reporting the COVID-19 pandemic may mean telling environmental stories, while using the best data to do it. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox spotlights three key resources to capture a detailed look at where and who the coronavirus is striking, and how it connects to the environment: a dashboard, an ambitious data platform and an unheralded tool for uncovering environmental injustice.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
Environmental Health [17]
Health [5]
Journalism & Media [20]
People & Population [7]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about COVID-19 Data Challenges Can Spark Better Journalism [24]
Smokey’s 420 Gets the ‘Dirt’ on Pot Crop [26]

The story of Smokey’s 420, mom-and-pop pot shop that’s taken a more environmental perspective. Plus, why the explosion in the infant business legal cannabis could be bad news for the environment [27], if left largely unregulated.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [29]
Agriculture [30]
Chemicals [31]
Consumer [32]
Economy & Business [33]
Energy & Fuel [34]
Environmental Politics [35]
Government [19]
Health [5]
Journalism & Media [20]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Policy [36]
Pollution [8]
Waste [21]
Water & Oceans [22]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [37]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Smokey’s 420 Gets the ‘Dirt’ on Pot Crop [26]
Why an Unregulated Pot Business May Be Bad for the Environment [27]

One industry seemingly unharmed by the coronavirus-related shutdown is legal cannabis. But the explosion in this infant business could be bad news for the environment, if left largely unregulated. A closer look at the issues. Plus, the story of Smokey’s 420 [26], mom-and-pop pot shop that’s taken a more environmental perspective.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [29]
Agriculture [30]
Chemicals [31]
Economy & Business [33]
Energy & Fuel [34]
Environmental Politics [35]
Government [19]
Health [5]
Journalism & Media [20]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Policy [36]
Pollution [8]
Waste [21]
Water & Oceans [22]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [37]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Why an Unregulated Pot Business May Be Bad for the Environment [27]
Ignoring COVID-19 Link, EPA Leaves Lax Soot Standard in Place [38]

As researchers are finding that soot and other forms of fine particulates in the air may actually make people more vulnerable to the coronavirus, the EPA decided earlier this month against tightening related standards under the Clean Air Act. The latest TipSheet explains why the decision matters, provides deeper context and offers story ideas and resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [16]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Disasters [4]
Environmental Health [17]
Environmental Politics [35]
Environmental Studies [18]
Government [19]
Health [5]
Journalism & Media [20]
Laws & Regulations [6]
People & Population [7]
Policy [36]
Pollution [8]
Science [9]
Transportation [39]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Ignoring COVID-19 Link, EPA Leaves Lax Soot Standard in Place [38]
When the Crisis Was Immense, SEJ Award-Winner Went Narrow [40]

How do you gain perspective on a widespread public health disaster? Award-winning reporter Apoorva Mandavilli shares valuable lessons on using a small lens to cover a big story — no, not COVID-19, but the deadly 1984 gas leak in Bhopal, India. And as she explains in this Inside Story Q&A, this decades-old story never really went away in the first place.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [41]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [29]
Air [3]
Chemicals [31]
Disasters [4]
Environmental Health [17]
Government [19]
Health [5]
Journalism & Media [20]
People & Population [7]
Pollution [8]
Water & Oceans [22]
Region:
International [11]
Asia [12]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about When the Crisis Was Immense, SEJ Award-Winner Went Narrow [40]
Go-To Books for Understanding and Surviving a Pandemic [42]

If you’re looking for perspective in your reporting connected with the coronavirus story, it might help to turn to the extensive library of non-fiction books offering insight into disease and epidemics. Our own Bob Wyss offers a helping hand, with a select list of the most useful texts. Plus, links to resource lists for many more, in the latest BookShelf.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
Environmental Health [17]
Health [5]
Journalism & Media [20]
People & Population [7]
Science [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
California [23]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [43]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [44]
International [11]
Central America & the Caribbean [45]
Europe [13]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Go-To Books for Understanding and Surviving a Pandemic [42]
Coronavirus Threatens Health of U.S. Journalism, Plus Climate ‘Blackout’ & Disabling FOIA [46]

The economic fallout from COVID-19 is severely damaging the news business, but may also point to transformative new ways of doing journalism, writes columnist Joseph A. Davis in the latest WatchDog. Meanwhile, the coronavirus-climate connection shows the importance of good, scientifically sound journalism. And are federal agencies leaning on COVID-19 to slow FOIA actions?

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [47]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [29]
Climate Change [48]
Disasters [4]
Environmental Politics [35]
Government [19]
Health [5]
Journalism & Media [20]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Policy [36]
Science [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Coronavirus Threatens Health of U.S. Journalism, Plus Climate ‘Blackout’ & Disabling FOIA [46]
Covering Climate Change in Age of Coronavirus [49]

The coronavirus pandemic has pushed climate change out of the headlines. But the two stories have much in common if journalists look beneath the surface. That was the consensus of expert panelists at an April 2 webinar organized by the Society of Environmental Journalists, who also had suggestions on how to cover both beats better. Read more, or check out video [50] or audio [51].

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [52]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [29]
Climate Change [48]
Disasters [4]
Environmental Politics [35]
Government [19]
Health [5]
Journalism & Media [20]
Planning & Growth [53]
Policy [36]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
International [11]
Visibility:
Public [14]
- Read more about Covering Climate Change in Age of Coronavirus [49]

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