Publication Items

Trump Pursues Broad Attack on Press Freedom [1]

In case you haven’t been keeping track, Donald Trump has been engaging in a multifront offensive against the news media and press freedom more generally. WatchDog Opinion catalogs the transgressions to illustrate how the president is moving to grasp control of White House pool coverage, beguile rich media owners, politicize libel law, kneecap public media and weaponize regulatory agencies.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business [3]
Government [4]
Journalism & Media [5]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Policy [7]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
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‘Misplaced Trust’ Aims Big, But Finds Details Make the Difference [10]

A project of vast scope was needed to tell the untold story of stolen lands originally promised to Indigenous nations. But for Tristan Ahtone, it was the pursuit of "smaller" stories arising out of the detailed data that was the Grist team’s proudest result. Explore the high points — plus three key lessons — of this Pulliam Prize-winning project, in Ahtone’s Inside Story Q&A.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [11]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Justice [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Government [4]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Natural Resources [14]
People & Population [15]
Policy [7]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about ‘Misplaced Trust’ Aims Big, But Finds Details Make the Difference [10]
Environmentalists Will Be Seeing Trump Forces in Court — Often [16]

The judiciary is looking to become a major environmental battleground for journalists to watch in the coming months and years, as activists confront the Trump administration over its deregulatory campaign. The new Issue Backgrounder maps out the action, explaining how key laws foster citizen suits, while numerous nonprofits are staffed up to sue. Plus, some ways to track the action.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [17]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [18]
Air [19]
Biodiversity [20]
Chemicals [21]
Climate Change [22]
Consumer [23]
Environmental Justice [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Government [4]
Infrastructure [24]
Journalism & Media [5]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Natural Resources [14]
Policy [7]
Pollution [25]
Waste [26]
Water & Oceans [27]
Wildlife [28]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Environmentalists Will Be Seeing Trump Forces in Court — Often [16]
Environmental Justice Grants Disappear. Environmental Injustice Does Not [29]

Decades of effort to tackle the often-intractable problems of environmental injustice, supported in recent years by billions in funding, are now facing the knife under the Trump administration. The latest TipSheet provides a thumbnail history of government initiatives and why it matters, then offers a dozen story ideas and reporting resources to tell the story in your community.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [30]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Justice [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Government [4]
Health [31]
Journalism & Media [5]
Laws & Regulations [6]
People & Population [15]
Policy [7]
Pollution [25]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Environmental Justice Grants Disappear. Environmental Injustice Does Not [29]
Covering Wildfire — Expert Advice on Emerging Issues, Recurring Risks [32]

With wildfires becoming more extreme in every way, reporters covering them face new challenges along with familiar hazards. A pair of experienced wildfire journalists and others on the front lines offer advice on dealing with access restrictions, on-the-ground dangers, toxic exposure risks and traumatized survivors — as climate change speeds up the news cycle and misinformation muddies the reporting landscape.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [33]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [22]
Disasters [34]
Forests [35]
Government [4]
Health [31]
Infrastructure [24]
Journalism & Media [5]
Laws & Regulations [6]
People & Population [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Alaska and Hawaii [36]
California [37]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [38]
Northwest (OR WA) [39]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [40]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Covering Wildfire — Expert Advice on Emerging Issues, Recurring Risks [32]
Trump Tariffs Blow Up Long U.S.-Canada Environmental Partnership [41]

As trade wars loom with U.S. allies, including our neighbors to the north and south, another kind of long-standing relationship is under threat — the environmental partnership between the United States and Canada. A Backgrounder Analysis examines deep-rooted ties over energy, water and timber. Does the brewing conflict over trade mean the long bonds over the environment have been broken?

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [17]
Topics on the Beat:
Consumer [23]
Economy & Business [3]
Energy & Fuel [42]
Environmental Health [43]
Environmental Politics [13]
Fish & Fisheries [44]
Forests [35]
Government [4]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Natural Resources [14]
Policy [7]
Water & Oceans [27]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [45]
Northwest (OR WA) [39]
International [46]
Canada [47]
Mexico [48]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Trump Tariffs Blow Up Long U.S.-Canada Environmental Partnership [41]
Trump 2.0 Cuts Hit FOIA Offices at Federal Agencies [49]

The Freedom of Information Act is a key tool for environmental journalists, but firings at many federal agencies’ FOIA offices threaten to seriously undermine it. That’s the warning from WatchDog Opinion, which points to dire implications for the free flow of information on public health and environmental health threats. A look at what’s at stake and what some are doing to keep FOIA alive.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [13]
Government [4]
Health [31]
Laws & Regulations [6]
People & Population [15]
Policy [7]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Trump 2.0 Cuts Hit FOIA Offices at Federal Agencies [49]
With Scientific Research Under Attack, Journalists Must Up Their Game [50]

The Trump administration’s offensive against evidence-based research is making clear, accurate reporting on science more important than ever — because people who understand how scientific research works and what it tells us are less likely to be duped by misinformation or pseudoscience. SciLine director Matt DeRienzo on the challenges of the time and new resources to help journalists understand and explain evidence-based research.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [33]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [22]
Consumer [23]
Environmental Studies [51]
Government [4]
Health [31]
Journalism & Media [5]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Pollution [25]
Science [52]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about With Scientific Research Under Attack, Journalists Must Up Their Game [50]
Follow the Money … for Lobbying State Legislatures [53]

With many states dominated by a few powerful industries — whether oil, mining or agriculture — the influence of campaign dollars can have an outsize effect on legislation, even to the point of corruption, notes the latest Reporter’s Toolbox. So while the U.S. Congress may be languishing, environmental journalists can dig up stories on lobbying at the state level using a powerful data source.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [54]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [18]
Agriculture [55]
Economy & Business [3]
Energy & Fuel [42]
Environmental Politics [13]
Government [4]
Journalism & Media [5]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Policy [7]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [56]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [57]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [40]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Follow the Money … for Lobbying State Legislatures [53]
Hazardous Risk Reporting Resource at Risk of Trump Blackout [58]

Hazardous sites around the United States are supposed to have disaster plans, which make for a localizable story environmental journalists can tell to help protect their communities. The problem, reports TipSheet, is that a key federal database of these plans may be shut down by the Trump administration. More on the Risk Management Program, efforts to protect the data and how reporters can use it.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [30]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [21]
Disasters [34]
Environmental Health [43]
Environmental Politics [13]
Government [4]
Health [31]
Journalism & Media [5]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Pollution [25]
Waste [26]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Hazardous Risk Reporting Resource at Risk of Trump Blackout [58]

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