Publication Items

From Fear to Fascination — A New Insect Narrative [1]

Media coverage of “bugs” is often sensationalistic and centered on fear and disgust. But conservation photographer and writer Danae Wolfe says journalists should be highlighting the importance, beauty and plight of insects and spiders. Reporting that offers alternative perspectives on these essential creatures can inspire curiosity and admiration, and encourage efforts to protect them. Wolfe on why to write about insects.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Agriculture [4]
Biodiversity [5]
Chemicals [6]
Climate Change [7]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Studies [9]
Food [10]
Forests [11]
Journalism & Media [12]
Pollution [13]
Science [14]
Wildlife [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
International [17]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about From Fear to Fascination — A New Insect Narrative [1]
Why Now’s the Time To Tell a Good Fish Tale [19]

With fishing season underway across the United States, reporters have a line to an array of great, local environmental stories, whether about the recreation and tourism industries or overfishing and the health of regional ecosystems. The latest TipSheet has more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources to help you reel in an angle of your own.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [20]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Biodiversity [5]
Climate Change [7]
Environmental Health [8]
Fish & Fisheries [21]
Food [10]
Journalism & Media [12]
Natural Resources [22]
Water & Oceans [23]
Wildlife [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Why Now’s the Time To Tell a Good Fish Tale [19]
Environmentalists Will Be Seeing Trump Forces in Court — Often [24]

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 [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Air [26]
Biodiversity [5]
Chemicals [6]
Climate Change [7]
Consumer [27]
Environmental Justice [28]
Environmental Politics [29]
Government [30]
Infrastructure [31]
Journalism & Media [12]
Laws & Regulations [32]
Natural Resources [22]
Policy [33]
Pollution [13]
Waste [34]
Water & Oceans [23]
Wildlife [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Environmentalists Will Be Seeing Trump Forces in Court — Often [24]
Follow the Money … for Lobbying State Legislatures [35]

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 [36]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Agriculture [4]
Economy & Business [37]
Energy & Fuel [38]
Environmental Politics [29]
Government [30]
Journalism & Media [12]
Laws & Regulations [32]
Policy [33]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [39]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [40]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [41]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Follow the Money … for Lobbying State Legislatures [35]
‘A Myriad of Voices’ Tells of Restoring a Swamp in Crisis [42]

When a pair of journalists reported on a degraded Colombian mangrove swamp, they turned to two local fishermen to help tell the story, tapping into their experience as they worked to repair the ecosystem that fed their community. In the latest Inside Story Q&A, reporter Jacobo Patiño Giraldo explains their successful use of primary source solutions journalism.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [43]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Biodiversity [5]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [28]
Fish & Fisheries [21]
Forests [11]
Journalism & Media [12]
Natural Resources [22]
People & Population [44]
Water & Oceans [23]
Region:
International [17]
South America [45]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about ‘A Myriad of Voices’ Tells of Restoring a Swamp in Crisis [42]
New Angle for Reporting on Oil and Gas Industry — Radioactive Waste [46]

Industry experts and government regulators have long known that radionuclides reside in oil and natural gas. Yet radioactive emissions and waste continue to threaten the lives of workers and community members across the country. Investigative journalist Justin Nobel on the opportunities and urgent need for reporters to drill into a story steeped in questions of accountability, health and justice.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Air [26]
Chemicals [6]
Climate Change [7]
Consumer [27]
Economy & Business [37]
Energy & Fuel [38]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Politics [29]
Environmental Studies [9]
Government [30]
Health [47]
Journalism & Media [12]
Laws & Regulations [32]
Natural Resources [22]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [48]
People & Population [44]
Policy [33]
Pollution [13]
Science [14]
Technology [49]
Waste [34]
Water & Oceans [23]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [50]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [39]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [40]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [51]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [52]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [53]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [41]
International [17]
Canada [54]
South America [45]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about New Angle for Reporting on Oil and Gas Industry — Radioactive Waste [46]
Communities at Risk Are Climate Stories Too [55]

As environmental journalists scramble to cover dizzying changes in climate and energy policy under the new administration, columnist Yessenia Funes offers an admonition: Do not forget about those whose human rights are being targeted by Trump, and look to connect the changing planet with changes felt by threatened communities. The new Voices of Environmental Justice on exiting the echo chamber.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [56]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Climate Change [7]
Disasters [57]
Environmental Justice [28]
Environmental Politics [29]
Government [30]
Health [47]
Journalism & Media [12]
People & Population [44]
Policy [33]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
International [17]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Communities at Risk Are Climate Stories Too [55]
Trauma Specialist Offers Ospreys As ‘Gateway Drug’ to Nature [58]

Therapist and artist Pamela Lowell spent several months observing and banding ospreys, but rather than offer the experience up as a scientific account, she turns it into a lighthearted memoir that aims to explore and explain a range of wildlife and environmental issues through art, insight and empathy. BookShelf editor Tom Henry has a review.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [59]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Biodiversity [5]
Climate Change [7]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Studies [9]
Wildlife [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [52]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Trauma Specialist Offers Ospreys As ‘Gateway Drug’ to Nature [58]
Is Fluoride Facing Phaseout in Your Community’s Drinking Water? [60]

Fluoridated drinking water has helped limit tooth decay in the United States for decades. But that could come to an end in the Trump administration, if fluoride nonfan Robert F. Kennedy Jr., slated to head Health and Human Services, has his way. In the first installment of SEJournal’s new weekly EJ TransitionWatch column, we examine the challenge to this public health success story. Plus, questions to ask and resources for your reporting.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ TransitionWatch [61]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Chemicals [6]
Consumer [27]
Environmental Politics [29]
Government [30]
Health [47]
Infrastructure [31]
Journalism & Media [12]
Laws & Regulations [32]
People & Population [44]
Policy [33]
Science [14]
Water & Oceans [23]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Is Fluoride Facing Phaseout in Your Community’s Drinking Water? [60]
Threats of Media Censorship Cloud COP29 [62]

Again this year, a petrostate hosts the COP climate gathering. Azerbaijan as host not only raises questions of how an oil-rich nation can help foster the fossil fuel cuts needed to stem climate change. But WatchDog Opinion also worries what Azerbaijan’s poor press freedom record will mean for journalists covering the gathering and for the civil society that normally enlivens the meeting.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [63]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Climate Change [7]
Economy & Business [37]
Energy & Fuel [38]
Environmental Justice [28]
Environmental Politics [29]
Government [30]
Journalism & Media [12]
Policy [33]
Region:
International [17]
Asia [64]
Europe [65]
Middle East [66]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Threats of Media Censorship Cloud COP29 [62]

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