Publication Items

Angling for Stories on Streams Suffering From Climate Change? Try Trout [1]

Telling the local climate change story may mean you’ll have to dip a wading-boot-clad toe into the nearest stream, virtually at least. A decline there of a bellwether species, freshwater trout, could signal climate change-driven changes in critical water temperatures. To help guide your investigation, Reporter’s Toolbox spotlights a government database that taps into a massive network of monitoring stations.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Health [4]
Fish & Fisheries [5]
Journalism & Media [6]
Water & Oceans [7]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Angling for Stories on Streams Suffering From Climate Change? Try Trout [1]
Flexibility in the Face of the Unexpected [10]

When a Chicago-based freelancer was just about to hit the road to report a three-part story and TV segment on the potential impacts of two proposed copper mines in the Great Lakes basin, there was a little hitch: The COVID-19 pandemic hit. The new FEJ StoryLog has the story of how Lorraine Boissoneault found the flexibility to complete her grant-supported project.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [11]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [12]
Environmental Health [4]
Environmental Politics [13]
Journalism & Media [6]
Natural Resources [14]
People & Population [15]
Water & Oceans [7]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [16]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Flexibility in the Face of the Unexpected [10]
Replacing the Nation’s Lead Lines Begins With Locating Them [17]

One especially ambitious element of the Biden infrastructure plan would swap out millions of lead pipes. It’s a massive, costly endeavor, but could remove from the country’s water supply a neurotoxin that harms human health, especially of kids and the poor. TipSheet looks at the new plan and offers ideas for reporting the story in your area.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [18]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Health [4]
Environmental Politics [13]
Government [19]
Health [20]
Journalism & Media [6]
Laws & Regulations [21]
People & Population [15]
Water & Oceans [7]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [16]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [22]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Replacing the Nation’s Lead Lines Begins With Locating Them [17]
How a Lauded Reporter’s ‘Open Mind’ Led Story in a Surprising Direction [23]

An investigation into lead poisoning treatment policies prompted some very unexpected conclusions for one long-time investigative journalist, whose deeply reported and surprising projects won plaudits from judges for the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual awards. Find out how Charles Schmidt turned an aside from a source into a penetrating look at a critical public health and environmental challenge.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [24]
Topics on the Beat:
Health [20]
Journalism & Media [6]
Pollution [25]
Water & Oceans [7]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about How a Lauded Reporter’s ‘Open Mind’ Led Story in a Surprising Direction [23]
Local Water, Sewer Projects May Flow From Infrastructure Funding [26]

The push for federal infrastructure legislation may mean money for local water and sewage projects under a long-standing and broadly bipartisan program called WIFIA. The new TipSheet explains how the program works and why the latest developments could spell news for local environmental reporters. Plus, story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [18]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [13]
Government [19]
Health [20]
Infrastructure [27]
Journalism & Media [6]
Laws & Regulations [21]
Planning & Growth [28]
Policy [29]
Pollution [25]
Water & Oceans [7]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Local Water, Sewer Projects May Flow From Infrastructure Funding [26]
Quagga Mussels — Worse Than Zebra Mussels and Maybe Headed Your Way [30]

An invasive species of mussel — no, not zebra mussels, but quagga mussels — are wreaking havoc not just in the Great Lakes, but have now spread through the Mississippi and Colorado basins, as far west as Lake Mead. The latest TipSheet runs down the extent of the problem, how quaggas may be even worse than zebra mussels, and ideas for reporting on your local waterways.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [18]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Health [4]
Fish & Fisheries [5]
Water & Oceans [7]
Wildlife [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [16]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [32]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [33]
International [34]
Canada [35]
Europe [36]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Quagga Mussels — Worse Than Zebra Mussels and Maybe Headed Your Way [30]
Radio Reporter Takes Listener on Journey in Covering Future of Western U.S. [37]

Perpetual water scarcity issues in the Colorado River basin provide a bounty of stories for public radio journalist Luke Runyon, who shares insights into his beat coverage practices, in the latest Inside Story Q&A. The greatest challenges, surprises and lessons in reporting these critical stories, lauded in SEJ’s awards program, through the medium of sound.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [24]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [6]
Natural Resources [14]
Water & Oceans [7]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [32]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Radio Reporter Takes Listener on Journey in Covering Future of Western U.S. [37]
Teaching Environmental Journalism. For the First Time. In a Pandemic. [38]

An initiate to the ways of teaching collegiate journalism winds her way through unique obstacles of a first term under COVID-19, from students reporting in masks to class sessions on computer screens. Not to mention the already onerous challenges of training young journalists to report and write a range of environmental stories. EJ Academy has her story, from the stumbles to the successes.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ Academy [39]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Studies [40]
Health [20]
Journalism & Media [6]
Natural Resources [14]
Pollution [25]
Water & Oceans [7]
Wildlife [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [41]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Teaching Environmental Journalism. For the First Time. In a Pandemic. [38]
Could Hackers Poison Your Local Drinking Water? [42]

A computer hacker nearly succeeded recently in rendering a local Florida facility a source of poisonous drinking water. And the risk of other such hacks is real, even as the vulnerabilities are hidden behind stringent U.S. secrecy laws. The latest TipSheet explores dangers to our drinking water supply — which go well beyond future hacking.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [18]
Topics on the Beat:
Consumer [43]
Disasters [44]
Government [19]
Health [20]
Infrastructure [27]
Journalism & Media [6]
Laws & Regulations [21]
People & Population [15]
Pollution [25]
Technology [45]
Water & Oceans [7]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [16]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [46]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Could Hackers Poison Your Local Drinking Water? [42]
Small-Market Reporter Gives Readers Reason To Care [47]

Reporter Kyle Bagenstose has impressed Society of Environmental Journalists’ awards judges three times in the last four years with his investigative and small-market beat reporting on local and regional issues in Pennsylvania. In our latest Inside Story Q&A, Bagenstose discusses his award-winning work as a beat reporter and his first-place investigative prize for a series on the cleanup of toxic firefighting chemicals from streams and aquifers around military bases.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [24]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [48]
Environmental Health [4]
Journalism & Media [6]
Pollution [25]
Waste [49]
Water & Oceans [7]
Region:
National (U.S.) [8]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [22]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Small-Market Reporter Gives Readers Reason To Care [47]

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